† Quote of the Day "O my God, fill my soul with holy joy, courage and strength to serve You. Enkindle Your love in me and then walk with me along the next stretch of road before me." — St. Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) Today's Meditation "Natural love is sufficient for earthly parents, but the love which [Joseph] bore to Jesus, as His appointed father, was not a mere human love, it was also a super eminently divine love; for, in loving his Son he was exercising the most perfect love of God; since He whom he called his Son was at the same time his God. As in creatures all is finite, so all is capable of increase. What, then, may we imagine, must have been the growth of this ardent love in the heart of our saint during the long period which he spent with Jesus! Those things which tend naturally to add to human love, in him ministered fresh fuel to the divine flame within him. The constant association with the Son of God made Man and given to him as his own Son, the serving Him and being served by Him for thirty years, and, we must add, their marvelous resemblance created a bond between them which was unequaled of its kind." —Edward Healy Thompson, p. 363
An excerpt from The Life & Glories of Saint Joseph Daily Verse "I know that whatever God does endures for ever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has made it so, in order that men should fear before him. That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away." — Ecclesiastes 3:14 | St. Teresa Benedicta Of The Cross St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (1891–1942) was born as Edith Stein in Prussia, the youngest of eleven children from a devout Jewish family. She was a bright and gifted child, and as she matured she became an atheist. She went on to receive a doctorate in philosophy, studying under the famous philosophers Heidegger and Husserl. Despite her atheism, she was affected by several friends who displayed a great passion for the Catholic faith. One day, while staying at a friend's home, she saw the autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila. She read it from cover to cover, and after finishing it she exclaimed, "This is the Truth." Edith was baptized in Cologne, Germany in 1922. From there she taught for a time at a Dominican school and studied St. Thomas Aquinas and other Catholic philosophers. When the rise of anti-semitism forced her to resign from a teaching post, she wrote to Pope Pius XI asking him to publicly denounce the Nazis. Discerning a call to the religious life, she became a Carmelite nun in Cologne 1934, taking the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross after her special devotion to the Cross of Christ. When the Nazi threat grew in Germany, her Order transferred her to a convent in the Netherlands for safety. There Edith grew in her desire to offer her life for the salvation of souls. The Nazis eventually came for her, and she, along with her sister Rose, who was also a convert, were sent to the Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz. They were both killed in the gas chamber. St. Edith Stein is the patroness of martyrs and Europe. Her feast day is August 9th. | Friday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 NA 2:1, 3; 3:1-3, 6-7 See, upon the mountains there advances
the bearer of good news,
announcing peace!
Celebrate your feasts, O Judah,
fulfill your vows!
For nevermore shall you be invaded
by the scoundrel; he is completely destroyed.
The LORD will restore the vine of Jacob,
the pride of Israel,
Though ravagers have ravaged them
and ruined the tendrils.Woe to the bloody city, all lies,
full of plunder, whose looting never stops!
The crack of the whip, the rumbling sounds of wheels;
horses a-gallop, chariots bounding,
Cavalry charging, the flame of the sword, the flash of the spear,
the many slain, the heaping corpses,
the endless bodies to stumble upon!
I will cast filth upon you,
disgrace you and put you to shame;
Till everyone who sees you runs from you, saying,
"Nineveh is destroyed; who can pity her?
Where can one find any to console her?" Responsorial Psalm DEUTERONOMY 32:35CD-36AB, 39ABCD, 41 R. (39c) It is I who deal death and give life.
Close at hand is the day of their disaster,
and their doom is rushing upon them!
Surely, the LORD shall do justice for his people;
on his servants he shall have pity.
R. It is I who deal death and give life.
"Learn then that I, I alone, am God,
and there is no god besides me.
It is I who bring both death and life,
I who inflict wounds and heal them."
R. It is I who deal death and give life.
I will sharpen my flashing sword,
and my hand shall lay hold of my quiver,
"With vengeance I will repay my foes
and requite those who hate me."
R. It is I who deal death and give life. Alleluia MATTHEW 5:10 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness;
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel MT 16:24-28 Jesus said to his disciples,
"Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
Or what can one give in exchange for his life?
For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father's glory,
and then he will repay each according to his conduct.
Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here
who will not taste death
until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom." | Daily Meditation: Nahum 2:1, 3; 3:1-3, 6-7 The Lord will restore the vine of Jacob. (Nahum 2:3) The people of Judah certainly had reasons to fear Assyria. A mighty empire known for its brutality, Assyria had plundered the northern kingdom of Israel in 721 BC and laid siege to Jerusalem in 701. Since then, Judah had become an unwilling vassal of the Assyrian rulers. So you can imagine the people's excitement when Nahum prophesied the fall of Assyria's capital, Nineveh. God would finally triumph over evil and see that justice was done! As Nahum foretold, Nineveh was destroyed by foreign invaders in 612 BC, fulfilling the prophet's promise that the Lord would "restore the vine of Jacob" (Nahum 2:3). But not for long. Only decades later, Judah would fall to the Babylonians. The people must have wondered why God would allow evil to reign. Wasn't he all-powerful? Didn't he care for them? Do you ever find yourself asking those same questions when you witness evil deeds or read about wars and atrocities happening around the globe? We know that God could stop evil in its tracks. So why doesn't he? It's because we live in an age of "already" and "not yet." In one sense, God has already conquered evil. On the cross, Jesus took on all the sins of the world—past, present, and future. He became the sacrificial lamb, bearing everyone's guilt and offering mercy and redemption in its place. Then he rose from the dead to offer new life to all who turn to him. But evil has not yet been fully destroyed. That great and final victory will happen when Jesus comes again. Then, there will be no more crying, mourning, or pain. Every tear will be wiped from our eyes, and we will rejoice forever (Revelation 21:4). We all experience the pain of living in a fallen world. But unlike the people of Judah, we already know the end of the story. Whatever suffering we may have to endure in the meantime, we can trust that evil will not have the final word. As Nahum prophesied, the Lord did restore the vine of Jacob. He did it by sending his Son into the world. In the face of every evil, may we place all our hope in him. "Jesus, I believe that you will do what you promise, in your time and in your way." (Psalm) Deuteronomy 32:35-36, 39, 41
Matthew 16:24-28 |  Hear AI Read it to you. Updated 7/10/24 | Reflections with Brother Adrian: | In the Holy Scripture we hear today:
"Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
Or what can one give in exchange for his life?
For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father's glory,
and then he will repay each according to his conduct......." end quote. | Are you afraid of having to pay for your conduct? In my studies of purgatory, hearing from souls, they have to suffer for the slightest things, and mostly for what? Acts against love. Any act. They all get noticed. Everything we do is recorded. Is this bad? Is this wrong that we are having to pay for our conduct?
As we speak, as a whole, our nations can be under scrutiny. Remember sex brings violence. Remember, after the fall of Adam and Eve, then death entered the scene, but before that, suffering and pain. So are we all doomed to die? Of course, in some way or other, yes, this earthly life will have to pass. But this earthly life is meant to be a preparation for the life that is to come.
We should be mindful of how we complain. We should be watchful of our unloving acts. We should care on how we look and talk with each other.
I remember one soul story that was suffering in purgatory just because they were ignoring their children, busy doing other things or even watching television instead of paying attention to their children.
This is true. That moment you ignored them could've meant a moment they decided other things were more important, than your own loved ones. We teach by how we live, do we not?
And then, the atrocity of watching your children grow up crooked, watching them hurt themselves. This is a message from a simple parent, to the very highest of church members in the chain of command.
So much resides in our power, our power to care.
What good then is it like our Lord said to "gain the whole world and lose your soul"?
And can we read the inverse of this statement? Can we lose the whole world and gain life for our soul?
The more we lose ourselves, detach ourselves from the world, and attach ourselves to the Lord, the more life in abundance we will have.
Detach yourself from sin. Detach yourself from darkness. That's all our Lord is asking, that we lose ourselves to Him, and He is Life! He is Light! He is Truth! He is the best and only Way!
And then, we won't have to worry about having to pay for our misconduct, because He knows you, and you know Him intimately. And when and where there is true love, there is no fear. Perfect love casts out all fear. Shall we live then in fear, or love? Who is your God?
Jesus is our God and our Love and our Life! Let's lose ourselves to live His way, let Him live and love through you and me! |  audio | Random Bible Verse 1
1 Peter 2:11 11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
