† Quote of the Day "Have caution in not allowing yourself to be struck down by adversity nor becoming vain by prosperity." — St. Clare of Assisi Today's Meditation "Finally—and this is perhaps the most difficult aspect of what concerns the practice of conformity to the will of God—we should desire virtue itself and the degrees of grace only insofar as God wishes to give them, and not desire more. Our whole ambition should be to attain the degree of perfection that has been appointed for us, since it has not been given to everybody to reach the same height. It is obvious that however well we may correspond with the graces given us, we can never equal the humility, charity and other virtues of the Blessed Virgin. And who can even presume to imagine that he can reach the same heights as the Apostles? Who can equal St. John the Baptist whom Christ called the greatest of the children of men? Or St. Joseph to whom God entrusted His Son? In this we must as in all else submit to the will of God. He must be able to say of us, My will is in them; it rules and governs everything. So when we hear or read that God in a short time has brought some souls to a very high degree of perfection and shown them signal favors, enlightened their understanding and imbued their hearts with His love, we should repress any desire to be treated likewise so as not to fall short in pure love of conformity to His Will. We should even unite ourselves still more closely to His Will by saying, 'I praise Thee, O Lord, and bless Thee for deigning to show Thyself with so great love and familiarity to the souls Thou has chosen ...'" —Jean Baptiste Saint-Jure, p. 75-76 An excerpt from Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence Daily Verse "The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; he is their refuge in the time of trouble. The Lord helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked, and saves them, because they take refuge in him." — Psalm 37:39-40 | St. Rose Venerini (1656–1728) was born in Italy, one of four children of a pious physician and his admirable wife. Rose was a bright and gifted child. At the age of seven she made a vow to consecrate her life to God. However, she was later conflicted between her vow and living in the world. At the age of 20 she knew she must make a decision between marriage and the cloister, the only two options available to women of her day, both of which she esteemed. After much prayer and suffering she entered a monastery. Only a few months passed before she returned home upon the sudden death of her father. This was followed not long after by the deaths of her brother and mother. Still yearning to respond to God's call to the consecrated life, she began by gathering together the young women of her neighborhood to pray the rosary. She was struck by the cultural, moral, and spiritual poverty of the women, and their lack of basic Christian formation. This inspired her to begin a school for their instruction and human formation, which became Italy's first public school for girls. This was an innovation in her day, as teaching catechism belonged to the clergy. After facing initial resistance, the fruit of her work and the moral improvement of the women became evident to all. The Pope himself attended one of her classes and praised her work. Governors and cardinals asked her to open schools in their areas. Over the course of her life she opened 40 schools across Italy dedicated to the education and promotion of women for the uplifting and ennobling of society. "Educate to save" became her motto. Her feast day is May 7th. | Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter Reading 1 Acts 17:15, 22—18:1 After Paul's escorts had taken him to Athens,
they came away with instructions for Silas and Timothy
to join him as soon as possible. Then Paul stood up at the Areopagus and said:
"You Athenians, I see that in every respect
you are very religious.
For as I walked around looking carefully at your shrines,
I even discovered an altar inscribed, 'To an Unknown God.'
What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you.
The God who made the world and all that is in it,
the Lord of heaven and earth,
does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands,
nor is he served by human hands because he needs anything.
Rather it is he who gives to everyone life and breath and everything.
He made from one the whole human race
to dwell on the entire surface of the earth,
and he fixed the ordered seasons and the boundaries of their regions,
so that people might seek God,
even perhaps grope for him and find him,
though indeed he is not far from any one of us.
For 'In him we live and move and have our being,'
as even some of your poets have said,
'For we too are his offspring.'
Since therefore we are the offspring of God,
we ought not to think that the divinity is like an image
fashioned from gold, silver, or stone by human art and imagination.
God has overlooked the times of ignorance,
but now he demands that all people everywhere repent
because he has established a day on which he will 'judge the world
with justice' through a man he has appointed,
and he has provided confirmation for all
by raising him from the dead." When they heard about resurrection of the dead,
some began to scoff, but others said,
"We should like to hear you on this some other time."
And so Paul left them.
But some did join him, and became believers.
Among them were Dionysius,
a member of the Court of the Areopagus,
a woman named Damaris, and others with them. After this he left Athens and went to Corinth. Responsorial Psalm Ps 148:1-2, 11-12, 13, 14 R. Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Praise the LORD from the heavens;
praise him in the heights.
Praise him, all you his angels;
praise him, all you his hosts.
R. Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Let the kings of the earth and all peoples,
the princes and all the judges of the earth,
Young men too, and maidens,
old men and boys.
R. Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Praise the name of the LORD,
for his name alone is exalted;
His majesty is above earth and heaven.
R. Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He has lifted up the horn of his people;
Be this his praise from all his faithful ones,
from the children of Israel, the people close to him.
Alleluia.
R. Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
or:
R. Alleluia. Alleluia Jn 14:16 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I will ask the Father
and he will give you another Advocate
to be with you always.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Jn 16:12-15 Jesus said to his disciples:
"I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.
But when he comes, the Spirit of truth,
he will guide you to all truth.
He will not speak on his own,
but he will speak what he hears,
and will declare to you the things that are coming.
He will glorify me,
because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.
Everything that the Father has is mine;
for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine
and declare it to you."
| Daily Meditation: John 16:12-15 When he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. (John 16:13) Think of all the ways technology helps us communicate with one another. We receive emails, text messages, voice and video calls. How do we understand all these messages? With the five senses and the brain that God gave us, of course! That's how we hear from one another. But how do we hear from God? In today's Gospel, Jesus tells the disciples that God will speak to them and lead them into "all truth" through his Holy Spirit (John 16:13). In other words, the Spirit will be their counselor, their comforter, and their encourager. Now, the disciples may have wondered exactly how they would hear the Holy Spirit. Jesus had spoken directly to them, teaching them for three years. Would they hear an audible voice coming through the clouds? Or get an otherworldly message spoken by an angel? We may wonder, too. How are we supposed to hear from a purely spiritual being? We're just ordinary people. And will he speak to us at all? The good news is that we can hear the Holy Spirit. How? Just as God gave us five physical senses, he has given us something like a spiritual sense, since we are made in his image and likeness. We can recognize his voice and hear him speaking to us because he speaks to our hearts (Catechism, 2562–63). In a way, he has "wired" us internally to communicate with him. Even more amazing is that through our Baptism, the Holy Spirit lives in us. Stop and think about that for a moment. You are a living temple of the Spirit, and he longs to speak to you! Today in prayer, listen for the voice of the Spirit. If you are reading Scripture, take a moment afterward to be silent. What is the passage stirring up in your heart? Or sit quietly in front of the tabernacle or with a crucifix or icon. As you focus on the Lord and allow the concerns of your busy day to fade, take note of your thoughts or feelings. See if the Spirit wants to communicate something to you through them. As you take the time each day to listen to God's voice, you'll get better and better at recognizing when he is speaking to you. And the more you listen, the more you will hear! "Holy Spirit, help me to quiet my heart and listen to you!" Acts 17:15, 22–18:1
Psalm 148:1-2, 11-14 |  try to hear it read by AI | Reflections with Brother Adrian: | In the Holy Scripture we hear today:
"Jesus said to his disciples:
"I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.
But when he comes, the Spirit of truth,
he will guide you to all truth.
He will not speak on his own,
but he will speak what he hears,
and will declare to you the things that are coming......" end quote. | Pentecost is rapidly on its way. We speak of what is to come in Holy Scripture. Our Lord says the Holy Spirit is coming.
We live now in the years of the Holy Spirit on earth. Our Lord said He was coming and He came. Our Lord said He would remain with us, and He has. Our Lord desires to speak the truth, but how else than through us all? This is the importance of living for and letting Him do His Divine will. If we do not do what God desires, then we stop the very message from Heaven and that of Salvation. If we do not pray with Him more, then He cannot inspire us more. If we do not visit Him in silence, then we will not be moved and filled with Him. Every Mass has silence, and there should be a moment of silence after the liturgy of the Word and the liturgy of the Eucharist. Everyone who prays should have a moment of quiet reflection, to let Him speak. Before writing to you, I take a moment to stop reading and writing so that I can breathe a few breathes of silence and then I begin in faith to write to you.
With that said, this means He is everything. We should bring Him into every aspect of our lives, not just every once in a while. Not just on Sundays. Not just when someone else says "let's pray". But you. You are to let Him speak life into your life. Otherwise, who else will guide you to the truth? What is truth? It is Jesus. The truth is Jesus. He said it Himself, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.".
He Says that everything that belongs to the Father belongs to Him. "...for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine
and declare it to you."
Words have power. Your words have power to edify, to build up, or to destroy. Be careful what you say and how you say it. And be careful how you hear. If your life is not filled with grace, you will hear many disgraceful things and attacks even against you personally. But if I am filled with grace, even direct attacks can be defeated with the light of truth, or better said, the life of Jesus.
I hope you understand what has just been said. Our Lord has decided that there would be one way to enter Heaven, and that is through Jesus our Lord and Savior. And there is one way to let Him in...and that is through your heart which is the life of your body, and the life of the soul that is connected in our physical body.
And then we can say with Him, "whatever the Father has I give you", and the Father has grace, love, and mercy and truth to give to the whole world. And this gift, our Lord wants to give to the world through you! Through me! We can agree life passes by fast. And we can agree that we should be careful on how precious every act can be. Every thought. Every look. Every gesture. Every offering of sacrifice of self for Love. And God our Father is Love. Jesus is the living proof, the very Heart of God. And He lives now in the baptized souls that make up His body.
And He is literally beating alive in the Holy Eucharist.
Lord, speak through me! Speak through my life! And let me hear you and follow you forever! |  Click for Audio | Random Bible Verse 1
Matthew 5:14–16 14 "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that1 they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
