† Quote of the Day "Go forth and set the world on fire." — St. Ignatius of Loyola Today's Meditation "Man will not consent to drive away the money-changers from the temple of his soul until he realizes that it is a Holy of Holies—not a house of traffic, but in very truth the house of God. We thus reach two striking conclusions: There cannot be entire dependence upon the Holy Spirit's guidance, which is the true meaning of living in Christ, without complete self-renunciation. There cannot be complete self-renunciation without the constant underlying spirit of faith, without the habit of interior silence, a silence where God is dwelling. Many do not see the connection between thoughts about the King and the service of the King; between the interior silence ... and the continual detachment ... If we look closer, it will be seen that there is a strong, close, unbreakable link between the two. Find a recollected person, and he will be detached; seek one who is detached, and he will be recollected. To have found one is to have discovered the other ... Anyone who tries, on a given day, to practice either recollection or detachment cannot ignore the fact that he is doing a double stroke of work." —Raoul Plus, S.J., p. 39-40
An excerpt from How to Pray Always Daily Verse "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." — Romans 8:38-39 | St. William of Rochester St. William of Rochester (d. 1201), also known as St. William of Perth, was born in Perth, Scotland. He was a wild youth who matured into a devoted man of God. He became a baker, and out of his charity he would always set aside bread to feed the poor. One day, while walking into the church for Mass, he found an abandoned baby boy on the church steps. He adopted the child, raised him, and taught him his trade. Years later St. William made a vow to visit the sacred sites of Our Lord's life on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, along with his adopted son. The two set out on their journey. While traveling through England his son deceived him, slit his throat, and stole the money he had saved for their pilgrimage. William's abandoned body was discovered and mourned over by a mentally deranged woman. She made a crown of flowers and placed it on the head of William's murdered corpse, then afterwards put the garland on her own head. Upon doing this, she was immediately cured of her mental illness. The local monks learned of this miracle and carried William's body to the Rochester cathedral to give him the proper burial of a saint. His shrine later attracted many pilgrims. St. William of Rochester is the patron of adopted children. His feast day is May 23rd. | Thursday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 344
Reading 1 Jas 5:1-6 Come now, you rich, weep and wail over your impending miseries.
Your wealth has rotted away, your clothes have become moth-eaten,
your gold and silver have corroded,
and that corrosion will be a testimony against you;
it will devour your flesh like a fire.
You have stored up treasure for the last days.
Behold, the wages you withheld from the workers
who harvested your fields are crying aloud;
and the cries of the harvesters
have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.
You have lived on earth in luxury and pleasure;
you have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter.
You have condemned;
you have murdered the righteous one;
he offers you no resistance. Responsorial Psalm Ps 49:14-15ab, 15cd-16, 17-18, 19-20 R. (Matthew 5:3) Blessed are the poor in spirit; the Kingdom of heaven is theirs!
This is the way of those whose trust is folly,
the end of those contented with their lot:
Like sheep they are herded into the nether world;
death is their shepherd and the upright rule over them.
R. Blessed are the poor in spirit; the Kingdom of heaven is theirs!
Quickly their form is consumed;
the nether world is their palace.
But God will redeem me
from the power of the nether world by receiving me.
R. Blessed are the poor in spirit; the Kingdom of heaven is theirs!
Fear not when a man grows rich,
when the wealth of his house becomes great,
For when he dies, he shall take none of it;
his wealth shall not follow him down.
R. Blessed are the poor in spirit; the Kingdom of heaven is theirs!
Though in his lifetime he counted himself blessed,
"They will praise you for doing well for yourself,"
He shall join the circle of his forebears
who shall never more see light.
R. Blessed are the poor in spirit; the Kingdom of heaven is theirs! Alleluia See 1 Thes 2:13 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Receive the word of God, not as the word of men,
but as it truly is, the word of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mk 9:41-50 Jesus said to his disciples:
"Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink
because you belong to Christ,
amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward. "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,
it would be better for him if a great millstone
were put around his neck
and he were thrown into the sea.
If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.
It is better for you to enter into life maimed
than with two hands to go into Gehenna,
into the unquenchable fire.
And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off.
It is better for you to enter into life crippled
than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna.
And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.
Better for you to enter into the Kingdom of God with one eye
than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna,
where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. "Everyone will be salted with fire.
Salt is good, but if salt becomes insipid,
with what will you restore its flavor?
Keep salt in yourselves and you will have peace with one another." | Daily Meditation: James 5:1-6 You have stored up treasure. . . . You have lived . . . in luxury. (James 5:3, 5) A stored-up treasure and a life of luxury? Surely James meant this passage for someone else—someone with a bigger bank account than mine! But there's a lesson for all of us in today's first reading. It doesn't matter if we're a billionaire or a minimum-wage worker—when we die, nothing comes with us. Our belongings, no matter how many or few we have, will face the same fate: they will be divided among heirs, sold, given away, or thrown out. After several generations, few if any of our possessions will still be around. James is not saying that we can't be wealthy. There is nothing inherently sinful about money and possessions. Sin stems from how we approach those things. The real question is whether we are being generous and just with the blessings God has given us. Look at the landowners whom James calls out. He's not condemning them for their wealth; he's condemning them for not paying their workers a fair wage (James 5:4). He's condemning them for making their money off the backs of the poor—and for keeping them trapped in poverty. Through James, God is warning us not to get so attached to our possessions that we fall into sin. He understands that we need to provide for ourselves and our families. He wants us to enjoy the good things life has to offer, but he doesn't want us to stoop to dishonesty or injustice to get them! He's telling us that when we treasure possessions too dearly, we become self-centered and build walls around us. We cut ourselves off from him, the only One who can satisfy the deepest longings of our heart, and from the ones the Lord has called us to love. God wants to free us from the materialism that leads to selfishness and sin. He wants to give us a spirit of justice and generosity so that we love others, especially the poor, the way he loves us. So let's remember how fleeting wealth is. Let's share our blessings. And let's do what we can to make sure that the people around us are loved and cared for. "Father, help me to find my true treasure in knowing and serving you." Psalm 49:14-20
Mark 9:41-50 |  try to hear it read by AI | Reflections with Brother Adrian: | In the Holy Scripture we hear today:
_"And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off.
It is better for you to enter into life crippled
than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna.
And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.
Better for you to enter into the Kingdom of God with one eye
than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna,
where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. "Everyone will be salted with fire.
Salt is good, but if salt becomes insipid,
with what will you restore its flavor?
Keep salt in yourselves and you will have peace with one another."....."_ end quote. | From Bishop Barron:
"Friends, in our Gospel, Jesus speaks, with incredible bluntness, about cutting off one's hand and foot and plucking out one's own eye. If these things are a block to your salvation, get rid of them, for it is better to enter life maimed than to enter Gehenna with all of your limbs and members.
The hand is the organ by which we reach out and grasp things. The soul is meant for union with God, but instead we have reached out to creatures, grasping at finite things with all of our energies. The Lord also speaks of the foot. The foot is the organ by which we set ourselves on a definite path. We are meant to walk on the path that is Christ. Do we? Or have we set out down a hundred errant paths, leading to glory, honor, power, or pleasure? We are designed to seek after and look for God. Have we spent much of our lives looking in all the wrong places, beguiled by the beauties and enticements of this world? And are we willing to pluck out our eyes spiritually, to abandon many of the preoccupations that have given us pleasure?" end quote Bishop Barron.
Why in the world would I cut out my eye if it causes me to sin? Does my eye really cause me to sin? Of course not, it don't have a mind of its own, right? Unless its possessed and you gave it full access to your body! And this is actually possible when it comes to how demons work...with permissions. But if I'm having trouble with let's say pornography, it would be easier to cut that out of my life than cutting off my eyes wouldn't it? Some don't see it that way though. For some addictions are way too much, they cannot stop their addictions! It takes much will power. We have to desire it with all our heart, with all our mind, and with all our strength, and with all of our soul. And this is where our Lord is aiming, that we change our loves to what is His, His eternal love.
And so, let's go to the heart. If your heart causes you to sin, would you cut it out? LOL. Because this is where everything matters. What do you love most? Who do you love most?
Did you know that God COMMMANDS us to love Him above everyone and above every thing in the world?
1. I AM THE LORD THY GOD: THOU SHALT NOT HAVE STRANGE GODS BEFORE ME. COMMANDS: faith, hope, love, and worship of God; reverence for holy things; prayer.
FORBIDS: idolatry; superstition; spiritism; tempting God; sacrilege; attendance at false worship. Our Lord said in Matthew 22:37: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." So would you rip out your heart if it keeps making you hate people? Would you rip out your brains if it keeps haunting you with sinful things from the past and today and tomorrow?
The past can be healed today and tomorrow is not ours, it belongs to the Lord.
And so, since you want to keep your brain and heart, then there's only one thing we can do: obey our Lord's most important wishes and commands.
That we actually love Him. That we actually become slaves of love. That we actually surrender our bodies to Him. Afterall, we have been surrendering them to worldly things up until today, right?
If you surrender truly to Him, our Lord, our Father, you are in the most loving and most powerful hands in the world. Yes the world matters, otherwise He wouldn't have created it! Everyone matters.
And because we matter, we make a difference. We can allow Him to live through us.
Does He want full possession of us like the darkness likes?
No. He just wants us to live full time open to Him, so He can come in at any time and make a home in you, and love others as He wants, not as we think we should! And this can be scary, because it will call on the will to sacrifice....everything if we have to. But it is His will, not ours, right? |  Click for Audio | Random Bible Verse 1
James 1:17–18 [James 1] 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.1 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
