† Quote of the Day "Act as if everyday were the last of your life, and each action the last you perform." — St. Alphonsus Liguori Today's Meditation "When we come into church from the outside our ears are filled with the racket of the city, the words of those who have accompanied us, the laboring and quarreling of our own thoughts, the disquiet of our hearts' wishes and worries, hurts and joys. How are we possibly to hear what God is saying? That we listen at all is something; not everyone does. It is even better when we pay attention and make a real effort to understand what is being said. But all this is not yet the attentive stillness in which God's word can take root. This must be established before the service begins, if possible in the silence on the way to church, still better in a brief period of composure the evening before." —Msgr. Romano Guardini, p. 17
An excerpt from Meditations Before Mass Daily Verse "I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." — John 13:34-35 | St. Macrina The Younger St. Macrina the Younger (d. 380 A.D.) was born in Cappadocia to a family of saints. Her mother was St. Emelia, and her father was St. Basil the Elder. Her grandmother was St. Macrina the Elder, after whom she was named. Her holy parents had ten children. Macrina was one of the oldest, and received an excellent religious education from her holy mother. Her parents betrothed her to a pious youth, but he died before the marriage took place. Macrina then consecrated her virginity to God and lived a life of great asceticism. She remained living with her parents, helping to raise her younger siblings, directing the household servants, and supporting the family with her domestic skills. Among her siblings were St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory of Nyssa (who both became Cappadocian Fathers and Doctors of the Church) St. Peter of Sebaste, and St. Theosevia. When their father died, Macrina became the main support for the family. It was Macrina who profoundly influenced the spiritual discipline of her younger brothers. When all her siblings were grown, Macrina convinced her mother to give up their family belongings, set their servants free, and convert their home into a monastery. Many of their servants joined them in this spiritual pursuit; they all lived together as a family, sharing all things in common. When her mother died, Macrina led the religious community. The biography of St. Macrina's life was written by her brother, St. Gregory. Her feast day is July 19th. | Friday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Is 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8 When Hezekiah was mortally ill,
the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, came and said to him:
"Thus says the LORD: Put your house in order,
for you are about to die; you shall not recover."
Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD: "O LORD, remember how faithfully and wholeheartedly
I conducted myself in your presence,
doing what was pleasing to you!"
And Hezekiah wept bitterly. Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah: "Go, tell Hezekiah:
Thus says the LORD, the God of your father David:
I have heard your prayer and seen your tears.
I will heal you: in three days you shall go up to the LORD's temple;
I will add fifteen years to your life.
I will rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria;
I will be a shield to this city." Isaiah then ordered a poultice of figs to be taken
and applied to the boil, that he might recover.
Then Hezekiah asked,
"What is the sign that I shall go up to the temple of the LORD?" Isaiah answered:
"This will be the sign for you from the LORD
that he will do what he has promised:
See, I will make the shadow cast by the sun
on the stairway to the terrace of Ahaz
go back the ten steps it has advanced."
So the sun came back the ten steps it had advanced. Responsorial Psalm Isaiah 38:10, 11, 12abcd, 16 R. (see 17b) You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die.
Once I said,
"In the noontime of life I must depart!
To the gates of the nether world I shall be consigned
for the rest of my years."
R. You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die.
I said, "I shall see the LORD no more
in the land of the living.
No longer shall I behold my fellow men
among those who dwell in the world."
R. You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die.
My dwelling, like a shepherd's tent,
is struck down and borne away from me;
You have folded up my life, like a weaver
who severs the last thread.
R. You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die.
Those live whom the LORD protects;
yours is the life of my spirit.
You have given me health and life.
R. You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die. Alleluia Jn 10:27 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord;
I know them, and they follow me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mt 12:1-8 Jesus was going through a field of grain on the sabbath.
His disciples were hungry
and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them.
When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him,
"See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath."
He said to the them, "Have you not read what David did
when he and his companions were hungry,
how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering,
which neither he nor his companions
but only the priests could lawfully eat?
Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath
the priests serving in the temple violate the sabbath
and are innocent?
I say to you, something greater than the temple is here.
If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
you would not have condemned these innocent men.
For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath."
| Daily Meditation: Isaiah 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8 I will make the shadow cast by the sun . . . go back the ten steps it has advanced. (Isaiah 38:8) This is one of the more amazing miracles recounted in Scripture. To prove to Hezekiah that he would be healed, God made the sun go backwards! We might think that God performed this miracle because Hezekiah was such a good king. In fact, Hezekiah, who ruled from 715–687 BC, was one of Judah's great kings. He "did what was right in the Lord's sight," removing pagan idols and restoring temple worship in Jerusalem (2 Kings 18:3, 4). He decisively defeated the Assyrians, who had conquered the northern kingdom of Israel. But he also boastfully showed off all his treasures and his armory to the Babylonians (20:13). A century later, as Isaiah predicted, those treasures, as well as the king's own descendants, were carried off as the spoils of war (20:17-18). So yes, the king was good, but he wasn't healed because he was good. After all, he was like each of us, a mixture of good and bad, of righteousness and sin. No, he was healed because God is good! What a great reminder! God certainly knew Hezekiah's flaws, just as he knows ours. But he looks at everyone with love and generosity. His desire to make us whole does not depend on our behavior or merit. He is eager to do good for us simply because he loves us. In that love, God wants to heal us, to show mercy to us, and to fill us with his own life. You may be dealing with a situation that you think is impossible. Perhaps, like Hezekiah, it's an illness. Perhaps it is a problem in your family or with your job. And perhaps you think you need to be perfect in order for God to answer your prayers. Bring your needs to the Lord anyway. Trust in his goodness. He loves and cares for you! Even when God doesn't give you the healing you are hoping for, he will always heal you in some way. Never lose sight of the truth that God is always good! "Lord, thank you for hearing my every prayer! I know that you are faithful and just and that you will answer me according to your goodness." (Psalm) Isaiah 38:10-12, 16
Matthew 12:1-8 |  Hear AI Read it to you. Updated 7/10/24 | Reflections with Brother Adrian: | In the Holy Scripture we hear today:
"I say to you, something greater than the temple is here.
If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
you would not have condemned these innocent men.
For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath......." end quote. | From Bishop Barron today:
"Friends, again and again in the Gospels, Jesus is portrayed as violating the sacred command to rest on the seventh day. For example, he often cures on the Sabbath, much to the dismay of the protectors of Jewish law.
And then in today's Gospel, after his disciples pick grain on the Sabbath, Jesus declares himself "Lord of the Sabbath." It's hard to express how breathtaking this claim would be for a first-century Jew to make. Yahweh alone could be assigned the title "Lord of the Sabbath," so what is Jesus implying?
In short, he is claiming that he is above their rituals, even perhaps the defining practice of pious Jews, because he is the Lord. Thus the rules must be placed in subordination to the kingdom of God, the kingdom that the Lord Jesus is ushering in even here and now....." end quote from Bishop Barron.
To the Jews, in the temple worship, everything hinged on the sacrifice. But what was being sacrificed? An animal. An innocent animal.
Now, that the Jewish Temple has been demolished, razed, and is raised into a new temple, it is about the sacrifice at the temple, Jesus, the innocent, the accused, the slaughtered, and HE asks that we join Him in this sacrifice and thanksgiving of praise. In essence, we are asked to a communion, the common union between ourselves and Himself, to unite in this Holy Sacrifice. And the sacrifice of what? Self.
In a Mass, we should be transformed, to come out anew, to be fed with bread, the wheat that is ground up, and to be empowered by the grace and mercy of God. Why else would we go to the sacrifice? To be a spectator in the stands? No. Jesus asks us to unite with Him. That we may let Him enter our hearts, that He may reign as Son of God and Son of Man.
So often, we do "God stuff", but fail at doing what God wants, like having mercy on others. The same thing happened with the Jews always. The temple worship was thwarted, to focus on man, and not the Son of Man, the God man, Jesus the Messiah.
What do I mean? The authenticity of your heart is at stake. The world battle is really a battle for souls. We would be wise to take refuge under the wing of our Lord. The Lord had with him apostles, that were hungry, and He would provide. This is God. This is how we know we have God with us. Yahweh Yireh. This means "God will provide". He did. He does. And He always will. This is amazing.
He provides the fish on the seashore, the meal. He provides the lamb for the sacrifice at the meal on the altar, Himself. He provides all we need because Jesus is God, the mediation between the Son of God and the Son of Man. Through Him, we are saved, and we are nourished, and we are given the task of sacrificing ourselves, so He can raise us up, and offer ourselves once again eternally.
So what does our life on earth matter? People in wars need weaponry against the enemy. We are providing with our love the weapon against true evil that exists to oppress us. Shall we dominate the world? It's already been conquered.. Then what is there to do? The end of the bible says we conquer with Christ. With Him we conquer the daily battle of self and our community, so that the war can be won through us together.
We are invited to something phenomenal then. Your thoughts matter. Your being matters. How you are matters. How you act matters. How you live matters. How you talk matters. This is why our Lord says "I Am the Life, and the Way, the Truth" to live, to behold, to honor with our beings as we live.
The life-style to live is Jesus Christ.
The Way to live is Jesus.
The Truth to live by is Jesus.
So we can righteously say in the end "it is no longer I who lives...but Christ".
Lord, be not only Lord of the Sabbath, but of my whole entire life, come into my life, be my King and my Savior! Sacred Blood of Jesus, in my body, and in my soul, live and let life live! | Random Bible Verse 1
Acts 2:36 36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified." | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
