† Quote of the Day "When we contemplate the sufferings of Jesus He grants us, according to the measure of our faith, the grace to practice the virtues He revealed during those sacred hours." — Blessed Columba Marmion Today's Meditation "When we have too many vocal prayers to say, our goal easily changes to getting them done instead of praying them well. They become less, rather than more, contemplative. The Holy Spirt might be moving us to linger silently on the meditation of a mystery, but we feel that we can't stop or we will never fit all our prayers in. So we find ourselves working against the Holy Spirit...We forget that the very purpose of prayer is communing with the Lord." —Dan Burke and Connie Rossini, p.28 An excerpt from The Contemplative Rosary Daily Verse "And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever possesses the Son has life; whoever does not possess the Son of God does not have life." — 1 John 5:11-12 | St. Elizabeth Of The Trinity St. Elizabeth of the Trinity (1880-1906) was born on July 18, 1880 in Cher, France. Her father died when she was only 7 years old her family moved to Dijon France. Very close to her house was a Carmelite monastery and she greatly desired to enter the religious life. At 17 years old she visited the monastery, and while there, the mother superior gave her a newly published letter about Therese of Lisieux, who had just recently passed away. As a result, Elizabeth was greatly inspired in her contemplative life. She continued working with the sick and teaching catechism to the youth until she was allowed to enter the monastery at the age of 21. She lived a life of prayer and sacrifice, suffering greatly from sickness. She died on November 9, 1906 and was canonized by Pope Francis on October 16, 2016. | Friday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 489
Reading 1 PHIL 3:17—4:1 Join with others in being imitators of me, brothers and sisters,
and observe those who thus conduct themselves
according to the model you have in us.
For many, as I have often told you
and now tell you even in tears,
conduct themselves as enemies of the cross of Christ.
Their end is destruction.
Their God is their stomach;
their glory is in their "shame."
Their minds are occupied with earthly things.
But our citizenship is in heaven,
and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
He will change our lowly body
to conform with his glorified Body
by the power that enables him also
to bring all things into subjection to himself. Therefore, my brothers and sisters,
whom I love and long for, my joy and crown,
in this way stand firm in the Lord, beloved. Responsorial Psalm PS 122:1-2, 3-4AB, 4CD-5 R. (1) Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
I rejoiced because they said to me,
"We will go up to the house of the LORD."
And now we have set foot
within your gates, O Jerusalem.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
Jerusalem, built as a city
with compact unity.
To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
According to the decree for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
In it are set up judgment seats,
seats for the house of David.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord. Alleluia 1 JOHN 2:5 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever keeps the word of Christ,
the love of God is truly perfected in him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel LK 16:1-8 Jesus said to his disciples, "A rich man had a steward
who was reported to him for squandering his property.
He summoned him and said,
'What is this I hear about you?
Prepare a full account of your stewardship,
because you can no longer be my steward.'
The steward said to himself, 'What shall I do,
now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me?
I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg.
I know what I shall do so that,
when I am removed from the stewardship,
they may welcome me into their homes.'
He called in his master's debtors one by one.
To the first he said, 'How much do you owe my master?'
He replied, 'One hundred measures of olive oil.'
He said to him, 'Here is your promissory note.
Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.'
Then to another he said, 'And you, how much do you owe?'
He replied, 'One hundred measures of wheat.'
He said to him, 'Here is your promissory note;
write one for eighty.'
And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently.
For the children of this world
are more prudent in dealing with their own generation
than the children of light." | Daily Meditation: Philippians 3:17–4:1 He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified Body. (Philippians 3:21) Did you know that St. Francis of Assisi sometimes referred to his body as "Brother Ass"? By calling it "Brother," he made it clear that he saw his body as essentially good—it's God's gift, after all. But he included "Ass" because experience told him that his body could be as obstinate as a donkey. Like all of us, he knew that his body didn't always cooperate with him, just as donkeys don't always cooperate! St. Paul would agree with Francis. There were times when he talked about having to "drive" and "train" his own body (1 Corinthians 9:27). He compared the Christian life to athletic training (2 Timothy 2:5). And in today's first reading, he weeps over those whose "God is their stomach" and whose "minds are occupied with earthly things." He says that their preoccupation with physical pleasure, if taken too far, can even lead to their "destruction" (Philippians 3:19). But that's not all Paul says. In the very next breath, he says that by the power of his resurrection, Jesus can transform our "lowly" earthly bodies into heavenly, "glorified" bodies (Philippians 3:21). Jesus didn't come just to save our souls; he came to save every part of us, including our stubborn, willful "Brother Ass" bodies! This is the promise of the gospel message. When we finally meet the Lord, we will be filled, body and soul, with his unending, glorious, divine life. We will know, in our bodies and our souls, a joy and peace that are beyond comprehension. Not only will we be freed from sickness and death, but we will no longer experience our bodies trying to push us or pull us in the wrong direction. They will be perfected—and they will be perfectly in sync with our desire to worship and serve the Lord. So when you feel your body tugging you the wrong way, follow Paul's advice and "stand firm in the Lord" (Philippians 4:1). Remember the future that awaits you, and let the power of Jesus' resurrection strengthen you and give you his peace. "Jesus, help me to keep my gaze fixed on your promise to glorify me, body and soul!" Psalm 122:1-5
Luke 16:1-8 | Reflections with Brother Adrian: |  Click to hear Audio | In the Holy Scripture we hear today:
"Jesus said to his disciples, "A rich man had a steward
who was reported to him for squandering his property.
He summoned him and said,
'What is this I hear about you?
Prepare a full account of your stewardship,
because you can no longer be my steward.'
The steward said to himself, 'What shall I do,
now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me?
I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg......." end Gospel quote, word of the Lord. | From Bishop Barron:
"Friends, like the steward in today's Gospel, we must regularly take a hard look at ourselves. What are our strengths and our weaknesses? Where do we need improvement? Where are we not in particularly good shape? Is our prayer life strong? Do we frequent the sacraments? Do we participate in the Mass? Are our lives focused around the corporal and spiritual works of mercy? Do we speak out against injustices and moral evils?
And, like the steward, we must act with cleverness, firmness of purpose, and boldness. Enough wishy-washiness in the spiritual life! The time for action is now. Today, commit to making Jesus Christ and his demands the undisputed center of your life......" end quote from Bishop Barron.
Our Lord said:
"And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently.
For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than the children of light." Dishonest wealth, these two words always ring in my head, especially since I am constantly in the business world. At one point our Lord said we should make ourselves friends with "dishonest wealth". Jesus said to his disciples: "I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings."
Is He asking us to be dishonest? Are we talking about Robin Hood, to take from the rich and give to the poor? Or are we talking about bribes here? What dishonest wealth?
The steward knew that his squandering of life, like the unwise virgins that used up all their oil, and their time was up, and in comes the bride, and in this case, the King, He comes and summons the person to pay up or call upon return on His investment.
Our God has us on earth to work the land, to till the soil, to invest in what is not ours and to make His Kingdom grow.
Do you remember my rant about how I've spent over a dozen years helping raise funds and designing our parish new hall, and after all that hard work, it was built, a beautiful building, and not long after, they asked me to give back the keys? What was that like?
It was a humbling experience. It is not my building. Never was, no matter how much blood, sweat, and tears were poured into it.
How does that feel? As I was writing right now, I got a call, someone was trying to enter the building, asking if I could open it so they could enter and setup for an event. I said I don't have keys, to contact the office for help.
What does this feel like? Honestly. It feels liberating!
I am not responsible, but we helped tremendously make this beautiful thing a reality. For the good of the others. And as we speak, a cursillo is gearing up for women, a first ever here, and this is exciting, where people come to meet God and their lives changed. And souls saved.
I want to say, that sometimes I feel like I make deals that are better than others, dishonest? I don't know, but the best deal we can make is with God our King, whom gives love and mercy, so that we can share His love and mercy to others. And how does it feel when you give mercy to others? Liberating! You let others free! I love mercy in confession. You come out lighter. And ready to receive the light of Christ in the Eucharist.
You should be like the dishonest steward. He made both God and man happy. There was nothing for him to gain from it. He'd lose out on the deal. But his eternal gains were everything.
We all like to know what we get out of a deal.
What we get is God's love. There is nothing worth more.
And to gain more, we must give more of God's love to the world. Keep coming back for more...love, mercy, and grace! |  audio | Random Bible Verse 1
Philippians 2:5–8 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,1 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,2 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,3 being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
