† Quote of the Day "For true hearts there is no separating ocean; or, rather, God is their ocean, in Whom they meet and are united; they love, and lose themselves in Him and in each other." — St. Theodore Guerin Today's Meditation "No creature ever loved Jesus Christ more ardently, nor showed more perfect submission to His will, than Mary, His mother. If then, this Savior, immolated for us sinners, gave His mother to us, an advocate and intercessor for all time, she cannot but comply with His request, and will not refuse us her assistance. Let us, then, not hesitate to implore her pity; let us have recourse to her with great confidence in all our necessities, as she is an inexhaustible source of blessing, bestowing her favors in proportion to the confidence placed in her." —Dom Lorenzo Scupoli, p. 152
An excerpt from The Spiritual Combat and A Treatise on Peace of Soul Daily Verse "Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the faithful! Let Israel be glad in his Maker, let the sons of Zion rejoice in their King! Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with timbrel and lyre! For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with victory." — Psalm 149: 1-4 | St. Dominic Henares St. Dominic Henares (1764-1838) was born to a poor family in Spain. He joined the Dominican Order and was ordained a priest in 1790. Ten years later he was sent as a missionary to the Far East. He went from Mexico to the Philippines, and finally to North Vietnam. He became Bishop of Phunhay, Vietnam, in 1803. In 1831 the Vietnamese emperor officially prohibited Catholicism and severely persecuted the Church. Whole villages were sent into exile; priests were arrested and subjected to the most terrible tortures before they were killed. Those who helped capture them were richly rewarded. Bishop Henares was arrested and beheaded in Nam Dinh on June 25, 1838; the soldiers and villagers who participated in his arrest received generous compensation. St. Dominic Henares is one of an estimated 130,000 to 300,000 Catholics martyred for the faith in Vietnam between the 15th and 20th centuries. They were canonized together by Pope St. John Paul II in 1988. St. Dominic Henares' feast day is June 25, and the collective memorial for 117 of the Vietnamese Martyrs is November 24. | Tuesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 2 KGS 19:9B-11, 14-21, 31-35A, 36 Sennacherib, king of Assyria, sent envoys to Hezekiah
with this message:
"Thus shall you say to Hezekiah, king of Judah:
'Do not let your God on whom you rely deceive you
by saying that Jerusalem will not be handed over
to the king of Assyria.
You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done
to all other countries: they doomed them!
Will you, then, be saved?'"Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it;
then he went up to the temple of the LORD,
and spreading it out before him,
he prayed in the LORD's presence:
"O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned upon the cherubim!
You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth.
You have made the heavens and the earth.
Incline your ear, O LORD, and listen!
Open your eyes, O LORD, and see!
Hear the words of Sennacherib which he sent to taunt the living God.
Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations
and their lands, and cast their gods into the fire;
they destroyed them because they were not gods,
but the work of human hands, wood and stone.
Therefore, O LORD, our God, save us from the power of this man,
that all the kingdoms of the earth may know
that you alone, O LORD, are God."Then Isaiah, son of Amoz, sent this message to Hezekiah:
"Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel,
in answer to your prayer for help against Sennacherib, king of Assyria:
I have listened!
This is the word the LORD has spoken concerning him:"'She despises you, laughs you to scorn,
the virgin daughter Zion!
Behind you she wags her head,
daughter Jerusalem."'For out of Jerusalem shall come a remnant,
and from Mount Zion, survivors.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.'"Therefore, thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria:
'He shall not reach this city, nor shoot an arrow at it,
nor come before it with a shield,
nor cast up siege-works against it.
He shall return by the same way he came,
without entering the city, says the LORD.
I will shield and save this city for my own sake,
and for the sake of my servant David.'"That night the angel of the LORD went forth and struck down
one hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp.
So Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, broke camp,
and went back home to Nineveh. Responsorial Psalm PS 48:2-3AB, 3CD-4, 10-11 R. (see 9d) God upholds his city for ever.
Great is the LORD and wholly to be praised
in the city of our God.
His holy mountain, fairest of heights,
is the joy of all the earth.
R. God upholds his city for ever.
Mount Zion, "the recesses of the North,"
is the city of the great King.
God is with her castles;
renowned is he as a stronghold.
R. God upholds his city for ever.
O God, we ponder your mercy
within your temple.
As your name, O God, so also your praise
reaches to the ends of the earth.
Of justice your right hand is full.
R. God upholds his city for ever. Alleluia JN 8:12 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the light of the world, says the Lord;
whoever follows me will have the light of life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel MT 7:6, 12-14 Jesus said to his disciples:
"Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine,
lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces."Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.
This is the Law and the Prophets."Enter through the narrow gate;
for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction,
and those who enter through it are many.
How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life.
And those who find it are few."
| Daily Meditation: 2 Kings 19:9-11, 14-21, 31-36 He prayed in the Lord's presence. (2 Kings 19:15) The king of Assyria, Sennacherib, had already captured all the cities of Judah, and now he was ready to take Jerusalem. But before using his military might, he employed what we would call today "psychological warfare" to persuade King Hezekiah to surrender the city. First, Sennacherib sent some messengers to Jerusalem to taunt Hezekiah for trusting in God. Then they purposefully repeated these taunts within earshot of the people in order to plant doubts in their minds that God would save them. Finally, in a letter to Hezekiah, Sennacherib suggested that God might be deceiving him (2 Kings 18:17-35; 19:10). Hezekiah could have fallen to this ploy, but he didn't. Instead, "he prayed in the Lord's presence" and beseeched him to save the city (2 Kings 19:15). And the king's prayer was heard: the prophet Isaiah told Hezekiah that Jerusalem would be spared. Then miraculously, it was (19:35-36)! Psychological warfare is also the preferred strategy of our enemy, the devil. Using many of the same tactics that Sennacherib used, he taunts us for trusting in the Lord. He tries to make us think that God isn't who he says he is, thus planting doubts in our minds that the Lord will save us. He especially tries to persuade us that we should just give in to temptation because resisting it is simply futile. As Jesus himself told us, our enemy is "the father of lies" (John 8:44). Satan wants you to believe things that are untrue—both about God and about yourself. And he especially loves to do this when you are facing a challenge and feeling vulnerable, as Hezekiah was. So be on your guard! When you detect a lie, counter it with God's truths. Then turn to the Lord and pray in his presence, as the great King Hezekiah did. God will help you stand firm against the lies as well as assure you of his great love for you. He alone is "God over all the kingdoms of the earth" (2 Kings 19:15)—more powerful than any enemy—and he will always protect you! "Lord, I turn to you in my need. Deliver me from every evil." Psalm 48:2-4, 10-11
Matthew 7:6, 12-14 |  HEAR it read by AI | Reflections with Brother Adrian: | In the Holy Scripture we hear today:
"Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces.
"Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.
This is the Law and the Prophets."Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many.
How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life.
And those who find it are few."...." end quote. | Many of us are good at remembering certain scriptures. I've heard various people repeat various scriptures they like to quote.
There are many scriptures that run by my head throughout the day. These words of our Lord seem to stick really good.
But some of these are a bit confusing. What does He mean when He says "do not give what is holy to dogs"?
What does He mean when He says "do not throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them"?
And then He said to end this "Lest they turn and tear YOU to pieces"!
Wait a minute! Is He saying that you are the pearls, and the Holy things?
WOW!
If I give myself to swine, what does that mean? I can only remember the Prodigal son who gave all his life and his father's inheritance to the party and city life in sin, with prostitutes and drinking, and so forth, until he found himself with the swine, feeding pigs for a living. He was meant to be holy, with His father's inheritance intact. You are holy. You are not meant for this world. You are the precious pearl, and inside of your clam body, is the pearl God desires...your beautiful heart. Therefore, do not give your heart totally to anyone or anything in this world.
Give your heart and soul to God! Amen! Amen.
Because very few actually do this, He goes on to tell us to enter the narrow gate, because wide is the road that leads to destruction. There is a heafty price for using those toll roads for an outsider like me. To save 20 minutes, I'll pay 30 dollars! That money could've been spent on something better, had I but patience, had I but the gall to not take the wide, fast lane. Most people hate the slow roads and traffic. Even out in the middle of nowhere in our oil fields, people pass you a hundred miles an hour or pass on the dirt just to avoid waiting to get through the constricted construction zones. We prefer a life of less problems. Less waiting. We are a very impatient people, with traffic, and with one another. We don't like to put up with people. We rather put them down and put them in their place.
Suddenly the narrow road begins to show its face.
You see, the narrow road is the way, the life of Christ, with tender love and mercy, about 97 percent of the time, because there are times where we must be stern, and straightforward, but for the greater part, deal with people with grace.
The narrow road I would like to compare to is the confessional lines. Very few people get off the comfortable highways of travel and pleasure, to go find our Lord alone in the Blessed Sacrament or Reconciliation.
I ask people to come do something with church and most are just "too busy".
Busy doing what? Too busy doing your own thing?
What about the prisoners I'm inviting you to go see?
What about the weekly gathering of prayer and sharing the faith?
What about the time sensitive issues of serving the Lord?
What is more pressing? What then...is more important?
What about treating your neighbor with the love of God?
What about sacrificing yourself for God in this way, that you choose His way and not your horrible ways anymore?
This is the narrow way...all the way up to Calvary. Only a couple were found by the cross, the faithful, the die hard Christ lovers, in bitter agony and not out to save their own lives.
The world is passing by, and most of us are building sand castles by the sea, and the tied will soon come. The world will reclaim what is its own, and God will claim the entire universe back to Himself. My Lord, may we see and choose the narrow way, the narrow gate, to your Sacred Heart. Sacred Heart of Jesus, be my Love! |  Click for Audio | Random Bible Verse 1
Ephesians 2:1–3 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body1 and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.2 | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
