†Quote of the Day ""Act, and God will act, work and He will work."
–St. Joan of Arc Today's Meditation "Knock. Persevere in knocking, even to the point of rudeness, if that were possible….We must think, with the Gospel: 'Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you,' which he then repeats by saying, 'Everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened' (Luke 11:9-10). We must, therefore, pray during the day, pray at night, and pray every time we rise. Even though God seems either not to hear us or even to reject us, we must continually knock, expecting all things from God but nevertheless also acting ourselves. We must not only ask as though God must do everything himself; we must also make our own effort to act according to his will and with the help of his grace, as all things are done with his support. We must never forget that it is always God who provides; to think thus is the very foundation of humility."
—Bishop Jacques-Benigne Bossuet, p. 35 Daily Verse "For many, as I have often told you and now tell you even in tears, conduct themselves as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction. Their God is their stomach; their glory is in their "shame." Their minds are occupied with earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ."
–Philippians 3:18-20 | St. Casimir of Poland St. Casimir of Poland (1458-1484) was the second son of King Casimir IV and Queen Elizabeth of Austria, one of thirteen children born to them in the royal palace at Cracow. Casimir committed his life to God from an early age, thanks in part to a brilliant and pious priest who served as the royal tutor. He turned away from the privileges of his station in life and instead exercised extreme asceticism and self-denial. He wore a hairshirt under his clothes, slept on the cold ground, and knelt in prayer for long hours outside of locked churches. At the age of thirteen the Hungarians requested Prince Casimir to rule their country as king, which he accepted in the hope of defending the Christian nation against the Turks. However, the plan did not come to fruition and he returned home to continue his life of prayer, penance, and generosity to the poor. He later ruled Poland for a few short years while his father attended royal business in Lithuania. Casimir took a vow of celibacy which he upheld despite immense political pressure to marry. He suffered from a chronic lung condition, which he succumbed to in 1484 at the age of 25. Many miracles were attributed to his intercession after his death. St. Casimir is the patron saint of Poland, Lithuania, and young people. His feast day is March 4th. | Monday of the Third Week of Lent Reading 1 2 Kgs 5:1-15ab Naaman, the army commander of the king of Aram,
was highly esteemed and respected by his master,
for through him the LORD had brought victory to Aram.
But valiant as he was, the man was a leper.
Now the Arameans had captured in a raid on the land of Israel
a little girl, who became the servant of Naaman's wife.
"If only my master would present himself to the prophet in Samaria,"
she said to her mistress, "he would cure him of his leprosy."
Naaman went and told his lord
just what the slave girl from the land of Israel had said.
"Go," said the king of Aram.
"I will send along a letter to the king of Israel."
So Naaman set out, taking along ten silver talents,
six thousand gold pieces, and ten festal garments.
To the king of Israel he brought the letter, which read:
"With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you,
that you may cure him of his leprosy." When he read the letter,
the king of Israel tore his garments and exclaimed:
"Am I a god with power over life and death,
that this man should send someone to me to be cured of leprosy?
Take note! You can see he is only looking for a quarrel with me!"
When Elisha, the man of God,
heard that the king of Israel had torn his garments,
he sent word to the king:
"Why have you torn your garments?
Let him come to me and find out
that there is a prophet in Israel." Naaman came with his horses and chariots
and stopped at the door of Elisha's house.
The prophet sent him the message:
"Go and wash seven times in the Jordan,
and your flesh will heal, and you will be clean."
But Naaman went away angry, saying,
"I thought that he would surely come out and stand there
to invoke the LORD his God,
and would move his hand over the spot,
and thus cure the leprosy.
Are not the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar,
better than all the waters of Israel?
Could I not wash in them and be cleansed?"
With this, he turned about in anger and left. But his servants came up and reasoned with him.
"My father," they said,
"if the prophet had told you to do something extraordinary,
would you not have done it?
All the more now, since he said to you,
'Wash and be clean,' should you do as he said."
So Naaman went down and plunged into the Jordan seven times
at the word of the man of God.
His flesh became again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. He returned with his whole retinue to the man of God.
On his arrival he stood before him and said,
"Now I know that there is no God in all the earth,
except in Israel." Responsorial Psalm PS 42:2, 3; 43:3, 4 R. (see 42:3) Athirst is my soul for the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?
As the hind longs for the running waters,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?
Athirst is my soul for God, the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?
R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?
Send forth your light and your fidelity;
they shall lead me on
And bring me to your holy mountain,
to your dwelling-place.
R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?
Then will I go in to the altar of God,
the God of my gladness and joy;
Then will I give you thanks upon the harp,
O God, my God!
R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God? Verse Before the Gospel See Ps 130:5, 7 I hope in the LORD, I trust in his word;
with him there is kindness and plenteous redemption. Gospel Lk 4:24-30 Jesus said to the people in the synagogue at Nazareth:
"Amen, I say to you,
no prophet is accepted in his own native place.
Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel
in the days of Elijah
when the sky was closed for three and a half years
and a severe famine spread over the entire land.
It was to none of these that Elijah was sent,
but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
Again, there were many lepers in Israel
during the time of Elisha the prophet;
yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian."
When the people in the synagogue heard this,
they were all filled with fury.
They rose up, drove him out of the town,
and led him to the brow of the hill
on which their town had been built,
to hurl him down headlong.
But he passed through the midst of them and went away. | Daily Meditation: Luke 4:24-30 No prophet is accepted in his own native place. (Luke 4:24) Jesus was back in his hometown, with people he had known from boyhood. He probably had memories of childhood games, prayers in the synagogue, and Shabbat celebrations. Given this shared history, wouldn't this have been a wonderful opportunity to perform miracles and teach them? Yet even without them saying anything negative, Jesus perceived the people's resistance to him and laid bare their thoughts. And as today's Gospel makes clear, this enraged them (Luke 4:29). It must have grieved Jesus to encounter such small-mindedness and cynicism in the people he knew so well. But he also knew that he stood in a long line of prophets who had been rejected in their native land. Like them, he was still called to proclaim God's words. It's clear that his message to the people of Nazareth was deeply unsettling and disturbing to them, as the truth can often be. But if they had heard it, truly heard it, with open hearts and minds, they would have realized who Jesus was and let his word pierce their hearts. As we continue our Lenten journey, let's consider how Jesus can read our thoughts as well. As the psalmist writes, "Lord, you have probed me, you know me. . . . You understand my thoughts from afar" (139:1, 2). Jesus knows us even better than we know ourselves. He can open our eyes to ways of thinking that are holding us back or preventing us from seeing what God is doing in our lives. He can uncover our blind spots so that we are able to see people and situations in the light of his love. He can also reveal his truths to us—even those that might be hard to hear—in order to deepen our understanding of who he is and what it means to live in his kingdom. Today in prayer, be honest with the Lord and tell him what you are thinking, even if it's something you would rather not admit, even to yourself. Then be open to letting him show you a different way of seeing things. The people of Nazareth missed out on the wondrous truth that Jesus was the Messiah. This Lent, don't miss out on all that Jesus wants to do in you! "Lord Jesus, open my mind and heart to your truths." 2 Kings 5:1-15
Psalm 42:2-3; 43:3-4 |  click to hear 2cents | Reflections with Brother Adrian:
Audio English | In the Gospel today we heard:
"Again, there were many lepers in Israel
during the time of Elisha the prophet;
yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian."
When the people in the synagogue heard this,
they were all filled with fury.
They rose up, drove him out of the town,
and led him to the brow of the hill..."
. . . | From a Spanish reflection today:
"There is a saying that tells us that "works are loves and not good reasons." And the work of love that God shows us is the gift of the gift that he makes of his son. God gives us his son to save us and so that we may have life in abundance. Therefore, death on the cross is an act of donation, a principle of goodness. Loving always means donating something of yourself. There is no love without donation, without sacrifice and without delivery. God takes the initiative to love us, to embrace our misery, to transform our weakness into grace. God always loves more and loves first. When God loves men, he does so knowing what we are here and now. He doesn't love us because we are perfect or better than others. When God loves, he doesn't pay attention to whether you have more or less. God loves us for who we are and from what we are he saves us. How do we experience this love of God every day? What do we do to take care of the love that God has for us?" End quote Fr. Néstor Morales Gutiérrez O.P..
Don't you wish you knew the stories in the bible more so you could understand what's going on here?
Who is Naaman? Why does it matter that he was from Syria? Why would this infuriate the Jews so much that they wanted to kill the Lord in that instant by throwing him off a cliff? Well, we don't have to know all the details but it sure would be nice. But the bible lets us read with plenty of context clues to keep us hungry for more and to get the gist, the basic meaning for us all.
I read somewhere though:
"Naaman in the Bible was the commander of the Syrian army who was healed of his leprosy by Elisha the prophet. Naaman was highly esteemed by the king of Syria (or Aram) because of the many victories won by the Syrian army. The Bible calls Naaman "a valiant soldier." His story is recorded in 2 Kings 5:1–19.
It so happened that Naaman's wife had a servant—a little Israelite girl who had been captured during a Syrian raid. One day the little girl told her mistress, "If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy" (2 Kings 5:3). Naaman relayed this information to the king of Syria, who sent Naaman to Samaria with a letter to the king of Israel regarding the matter and a gift of silver, gold, and clothing. In the letter, the Syrian king asked the king of Israel to cure Naaman's leprosy." It was because of a little Israelite girl. Israelis were not the best of friends with Syrians. Who are the modern day Syrians anyway? "Most modern-day Syrians are described as Levantine Arabs by virtue of their modern-day language and bonds to Arab culture and history. Genetically, Syrian Arabs are a variety of diverse Semitic-speaking groups indigenous to the region."
Are there flourishing Christ followers among Arabians? It has not been the norm, but we could see an exponential growth in Christendom if we let the story continue.
Back to the little Israelite girl, the servant of Naaman's wife.
It was because of her suggestion that things changed, and her master would be saved.
What a tremendous difference for the world because she just uttered salvation. You too should learn from this little girl. You should see the world change because of a woman's heart and what she says or does. Think Eve. Think the blessed Mother Mary.
Back to the Jews who wanted to kill the Lord. For what?
What was so wrong about what He said about Naaman the Syrian and all the lepers?
He pointed out that they were the lepers in need of a radical change.
When's the last time you thought yourself "I need a radical change for God, I need to repent fully with all my heart and do something different".
Naaman had a hard time doing something strange to be healed.
For many, coming to confession is something strange.
For others, just reorientating their life's direction to Heaven is a radical change.
For many, giving up what they love and believe is too much to ask.
And here comes a word many don't want to hear...humility.
Naaman had to humble himself and believe.
The Jews couldn't humble down and believe, rather, they were filled with rage "how dare you say that about us!". Evil spirits talk like that, full of pride "how dare you say that about me!" and the killings begin, in the name of pride.
But for Naaman, everything changed, his view on life, his thoughts about other gods that had failed him, and I bet he appreciated that little Israelite girl servant more than anything.
And if you've read this far, I've got something strange to tell the world that took me by surprise. Speaking of a servant young woman....I was cleaning and pruning the tree around the statue of our Lady that was crying, remember the story? She caught my attention and was led to say something for the world to hear. She said "Tell them that I love them".
My immediate response was "I'm going to need help with that".
And another strange thing happened, a little bird came from atop the trees, which was strange because they always fly away when I show up. It flew to the closest branch it could land on, and it looked at me over and over and wouldn't fly away, even when I acted like I was going to prune with the long shears again. It was a message reaffirmation.
"Tell them that I love them".
This is good news. Your Mother in Heaven loves you.
I'd dare say, there is no sweeter love (aside from God Himself giving himself in His Son), than the love of Mother Mary, of purest of loves and purest of graces.
Your Mother says "I Love You".
Share it to the world, in great need of this love. Share this now.
Lord, I am going to radically change my faith to You. How can I ever repay Thee for such love! |  Click for Audio | Random Bible Verse 1
1 Peter 5:8–9 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
