† Quote of the Day "Those whose hearts are pure are the temples of the Holy Spirit." — St. Lucy Today's Meditation "We can open our lives and homes to people placed in our path from other walks of life and world views. With a greatly diminished number of people actually practicing the faith, it becomes more likely that our homes are a rare opportunity for someone in our acquaintance to be invited into the intimacy of Catholic family life. To do this well we must first and foremost be constantly drawing from our Lord so that He might be reflected through us. We bear a great responsibility to represent Him well." –Carrie Gress and Noelle Mering, p.146
An excerpt from Theology of Home Daily Verse "A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly." — John 10:10 | St. Lucy St. Lucy (Lucia) of Syracuse (283–304 A.D.) was born to a wealthy Christian family on the island of Sicily. Her father died when she was in her infancy. Lucy grew in piety, and at a young age secretly consecrated her virginity to Christ. Her mother pressured her into an arranged marriage with a pagan nobleman in order to provide for her daughter's future, which Lucy avoided. When Lucy's mother was struck with a long and serious illness, Lucy convinced her mother to accompany her to pray at the tomb of St. Agatha. As a result, Lucy's mother was miraculously cured of her malady. Lucy then told her mother about her vow of chastity, and her mother consented to her refusal to marry. Lucy gave herself to serving persecuted Christians hiding in the catacombs, wearing a wreath of candles on her head to illumine the dark underground caverns, with her arms full of provisions. The man to whom Lucy was betrothed, upon finding that Lucy was a Christian and had refused his hand in marriage, had her imprisoned under the persecutions of Diocletian. The judge sentenced Lucy to prostitution in a brothel, but God rendered her body immovable and the soldiers were unable to carry out the task. They then tried to set her on fire, but the wood underneath Lucy would not burn. Finally, she was killed by the sword. Among her tortures her eyes were gouged out, making St. Lucy the patron saint of eye problems and blind people, among others. St. Lucy is among the great virgin martyrs of the Church, her name appearing in the Roman Canon of the Mass. Her feast day is December 13th. | Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe Reading 1 ZEC 2:14-17 Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion!
See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the LORD.
Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day,
and they shall be his people,
and he will dwell among you,
and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.
The LORD will possess Judah as his portion in the holy land,
and he will again choose Jerusalem.
Silence, all mankind, in the presence of the LORD!
For he stirs forth from his holy dwelling.
or Rv 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab God's temple in heaven was opened,
and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple.
A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun,
with the moon under her feet,
and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth.
Then another sign appeared in the sky;
it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns,
and on its heads were seven diadems.
Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky
and hurled them down to the earth.
Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth,
to devour her child when she gave birth.
She gave birth to a son, a male child,
destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod.
Her child was caught up to God and his throne.
The woman herself fled into the desert
where she had a place prepared by God.
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
"Now have salvation and power come,
and the Kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Anointed." Responsorial Psalm JUDITH 13:18BCDE, 19 R. (15:9d) You are the highest honor of our race.
Blessed are you, daughter, by the Most High God,
above all the women on earth;
and blessed be the LORD God,
the creator of heaven and earth.
R. You are the highest honor of our race.
Your deed of hope will never be forgotten
by those who tell of the might of God.
R. You are the highest honor of our race. Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you, holy Virgin Mary, deserving of all praise;
from you rose the sun of justice, Christ our God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel LK 1:26-38 The angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin's name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said,
"Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you."
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her,
"Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom there will be no end."
But Mary said to the angel,
"How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?"
And the angel said to her in reply,
"The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child to be born
will be called holy, the Son of God.
And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,
has also conceived a son in her old age,
and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God."
Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word."
Then the angel departed from her.
or Lk 1:39-47 Mary set out
and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said,
"Most blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled."
And Mary said:
"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior."
| Memorial of Saint Lucy, Virgin and Martyr • Readings for the Memorial of Saint Lucy, Virgin and Martyr Reading 1 Is 48:17-19 Thus says the LORD, your redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel:
I, the LORD, your God,
teach you what is for your good,
and lead you on the way you should go.
If you would hearken to my commandments,
your prosperity would be like a river,
and your vindication like the waves of the sea;
Your descendants would be like the sand,
and those born of your stock like its grains,
Their name never cut off
or blotted out from my presence. Responsorial Psalm Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6 R. (see John 8:12) Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.
R. Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
R. Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.
R. Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life. Alleluia R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Lord will come; go out to meet him!
He is the prince of peace.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mt 11:16-19 Jesus said to the crowds:
"To what shall I compare this generation?
It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another,
'We played the flute for you, but you did not dance,
we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.'
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said,
'He is possessed by a demon.'
The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said,
'Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard,
a friend of tax collectors and sinners.'
But wisdom is vindicated by her works."
| Reflections with Brother Adrian: |  Click to hear Audio | In the Holy Scripture we hear today:
"Jesus said to the crowds:
"To what shall I compare this generation?
It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another,
'We played the flute for you, but you did not dance,
we sang a dirge but you did not mourn......" end Gospel quote, word of the Lord. | From Bishop Barron:
"Friends, in today's Gospel, Jesus says, "The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, 'Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.'"
The Passover meal was decisively important in salvation history. God commands that his people share a meal to remember their liberation from slavery. This supper provides the context for the deepest theologizing of the Israelite community. Both the bitterness of their slavery and the sweetness of their liberation are acted out in this sacred meal.
Jesus' life and ministry can be interpreted in light of this symbol. From the very beginning, Jesus was laid in a manger, for he would be food for a hungry world. Much of Jesus' public outreach centered on sacred meals, where everyone was invited: rich and poor, saints and sinners, the sick and the outcast. They thought John the Baptist was a weird ascetic, but they called Jesus a glutton and a winebibber. He embodies Yahweh's desire to eat a convivial meal with his people.
And of course, the life and teaching of Jesus comes to a sort of climax at the meal that we call the Last Supper. The Eucharist is what we do in the in-between times, between the death of the Lord and his coming in glory. It is the meal that even now anticipates the perfect meal of fellowship with God......" End quote from Bishop Barron.
"'We played the flute for you, but you did not dance,
we sang a dirge but you did not mourn." said our Lord. Who is playing the flute?
Who sang a dirge?
These are all prophecies of old, yes, but they are still happening today.
There are times when the festive flute is called for us to rejoice in the Lord, to come give praise and thanks.
And there are times to be serious, to take our Lord serious, and come still in thanksgiving.
But instead, the Jews of that self-made temple, rejected Him. They rejected all the Lord's flutes and dirge music. They couldn't accept anything from His lips, much less from His heart.
We should watch our lives too. We can close Him out easily with our thoughts, and our doubts. Why do I say that? Because, it happens to me. We let stress take over. We pray, but with a stressful heart. And this is blinding. We want control. We want complete control. And this is a weak prayer, very weak. The very purpose of one to turn to demonic activity, is to be wanting control over someone, or a situation. This is the opposite. Yes we want a prayer answered, but we want things done immediately. We want not just control, but more, an attitude of entitlement.
This is that block mentality we are praying with.
Our Lord wanted the eyes of the temple Jews to open up, and this meant, the eyes of the heart would have to be opened.
But they couldn't. So He called them the "blind fools".
Can you not see what is right before you?
Can you not see WHO is right before you?
How can you talk like that? How can you pray like that?
How can you talk to God like that?
This is not your temple. This is not your body. It came from somewhere, from some one, long before the world began. Some claim we are made of recycled materials, dirt from dirt of long ago. Water, from so many places. But that physical body is not the temple. The soul is the temple. God wants in.
He wants in this beautiful heart He has designed for love from the beginning.
Advent means He is coming in a special way. Not just a physical body, but the Holy Spirit Body.
This is amazing and is to be celebrated rightly, with our fasting, and praying until He comes.
Getting ready for something good. |  audio | Random Bible Verse 1
1 John 4:12–13 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
