† Quote of the Day "Upon receiving Holy Communion, the Adorable Blood of Jesus Christ really flows in our veins and His Flesh is really blended with ours." — St. John Vianney Today's Meditation "Movements of the spirit that enable us to experience more of God's grace and love and enable us to become more of the person God wants us to be are "consolations." Consolations represent the loving counsel of the Holy Spirit that draws us into deeper communion with God and helps us make choices that are consistent with becoming the whole, healed, godly, grace-filled person we are meant to be. By contrast, desolations represent the counsel of an evil spirit attempting to pull us away from God or throwing up roadblocks to us cooperating with God's grace to become the whole, healed, godly, grace-filled people we are meant to be...Tuning in to consolation and desolation allows us to recognize where our thoughts are coming from. We often take our thoughts for granted as coming from ourselves, but this is very often not true. It's important to recognize when the Holy Spirit is trying to tell us something - and also when an evil spirit is whispering lies in our spiritual ear." —Dr. Gregory Popcak, p. 134
An excerpt from Unworried Daily Verse "Let marriage be honored among all and the marriage bed be kept undefiled, for God will judge the immoral and adulterers. Let your life be free from love of money but be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never forsake you or abandon you." Thus we may say with confidence: "The Lord is my helper, [and] I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?"" — Hebrews 13:4-6 | St. Adelaide of Burgundy St. Adelaide (931-999 A.D.) was the virtuous daughter of King Rupert II of Burgundy, France. She became the Queen of Italy after being given in marriage to the future King of Italy. When her husband died, she was imprisoned for refusing a second politically-driven marriage. However, when the German Emperor Otto came to rule Italy, she accepted his rescue and offer of marriage. They had four children, the future Otto II and three daughters, two of whom became nuns. Pope John XII crowned Otto the Holy Roman Emperor in 962 A.D., and Adelaide was crowned as the Holy Roman Empress. When her son, Otto II, succeeded her husband as Emperor, she was driven from court by her jealous daughter-in-law. When they both died, Adelaide returned to court to rule the empire as regent Queen until her grandson was of age. She used her position, power, and influence to help the poor, evangelize her people, and to build and restore monasteries and churches. She afterwards retired to a convent in Germany, spending her remaining days in prayer. St. Adelaide is the patroness of princesses, empresses, second marriages, widows, parenthood, brides, exiles, and abuse victims. Her feast day is December 16. | Tuesday of the Third Week of Advent Reading I Gn 49:2, 8-10 Jacob called his sons and said to them: "Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob, listen to Israel, your father. "You, Judah, shall your brothers praise –your hand on the neck of your enemies; the sons of your father shall bow down to you. Judah, like a lion's whelp, you have grown up on prey, my son. He crouches like a lion recumbent, the king of beasts–who would dare rouse him? The scepter shall never depart from Judah, or the mace from between his legs, While tribute is brought to him, and he receives the people's homage." Responsorial Psalm 72:1-2, 3-4ab, 7-8, 17 R. (see 7) Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
O God, with your judgment endow the king, and with your justice, the king's son;
He shall govern your people with justice and your afflicted ones with judgment.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
The mountains shall yield peace for the people, and the hills justice.
He shall defend the afflicted among the people, save the children of the poor.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
Justice shall flower in his days, and profound peace, till the moon be no more.
May he rule from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
May his name be blessed forever; as long as the sun his name shall remain.
In him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed; all the nations shall proclaim his happiness.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever. Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
O Wisdom of our God Most High,
guiding creation with power and love:
come to teach us the path of knowledge!
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mt 1:1-17 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ,
the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Abraham became the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.
Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah,
whose mother was Tamar.
Perez became the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
Ram the father of Amminadab.
Amminadab became the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
Salmon the father of Boaz,
whose mother was Rahab.
Boaz became the father of Obed,
whose mother was Ruth.
Obed became the father of Jesse,
Jesse the father of David the king.
David became the father of Solomon,
whose mother had been the wife of Uriah.
Solomon became the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asaph.
Asaph became the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Joram,
Joram the father of Uzziah.
Uzziah became the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah.
Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amos,
Amos the father of Josiah.
Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers
at the time of the Babylonian exile.
After the Babylonian exile,
Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
Zerubbabel the father of Abiud.
Abiud became the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
Azor the father of Zadok.
Zadok became the father of Achim,
Achim the father of Eliud,
Eliud the father of Eleazar.
Eleazar became the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary.
Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.
Thus the total number of generations
from Abraham to David
is fourteen generations;
from David to the Babylonian exile, fourteen generations;
from the Babylonian exile to the Christ,
fourteen generations. | Daily Meditation: Matthew 1:1-17 Joseph, the husband of Mary. (Matthew 1:16) Did you notice the trajectory in today's Gospel? In each set of "fourteen generations" in Jesus' genealogy, the characters appear in increasingly humbler circumstances (Matthew 1:17). First, there are the legendary patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then there's David, Israel's brave but flawed ruler. Then there's Jeconiah and his descendants: exiles, minor functionaries, and obscure characters mentioned nowhere else in Scripture. Finally, there's Joseph, a poor carpenter living in far-off Nazareth. So why did God choose this man to raise his Son? Perhaps it's because God looks at the heart and not just the accomplishments. After all, Joseph modeled so many of the teachings Jesus would eventually proclaim. Think about Joseph's humility. We see it when he welcomed Mary into his home even after learning about her pregnancy. His embrace of God's plan surely laid the foundation for Jesus' own submission to his heavenly Father (John 14:31). You can imagine Jesus thinking of Joseph when he said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit" (Matthew 5:3). Then there's Joseph's simplicity. Watching Joseph's contentment with the little that he and his family had, Jesus learned not to worry about what to wear or what to eat. Instead, he learned to focus on seeking the kingdom of God and loving God and his neighbor (Matthew 6:31-33; Mark 12:28-31). And Joseph was a righteous man (Matthew 1:19). Living a life of hidden holiness, he taught Jesus "not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them" (6:1). How many times, do you think, did the boy Jesus observe Joseph going into his own "inner room" and praying to God "in secret" (6:6)? Maybe that's how Jesus got into the habit of rising early in the morning and going off "to a deserted place" to pray (Mark 1:35). A humble man. A simple man. A righteous man. Who better than Joseph to show Jesus that holiness comes through humility and quiet submission to God? Who better than Joseph to give Jesus a glimpse into the Beatitudes he would one day announce? And who better than Joseph to teach us the same thing? "St. Joseph, pray that I can become more and more like your son, Jesus." Genesis 49:2, 8-10
Psalm 72:1-4, 7-8, 17 | Reflections with Brother Adrian: |  Click to hear Audio | In the Holy Scripture we hear today: "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ,
the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Abraham became the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. ....." end Gospel quote, word of the Lord. | From Bishop Barron:
"Friends, today's Gospel records the genealogy of Jesus. It was desperately important for Matthew to show that Jesus didn't just appear out of the blue. Rather, he came out of a rich, densely textured history. St. Irenaeus tells us that the Incarnation had been taking place over a long period of time, with God gradually accustoming himself to the human race.
Look at this long line of characters: saints, sinners, cheats, prostitutes, murderers, poets, kings, insiders, and outsiders—all leading to the Christ. Of course, King David is mentioned. He was, without doubt, a great figure, the king who united the nation. But he was also an adulterer and a murderer.
From this long line of the great and not-so-great, the prominent and obscure, saints and sinners, and kings and paupers came "Jesus who is called the Christ." God became one of us, in all of our grace and embarrassment, in all of our beauty and ordinariness. God had a series of human ancestors, and, like most families, they were kind of a mixed bag. And what good news this is for us! It means that God can bring the Christ to birth even in people like us......." End quote from Bishop Barron.
From a Spanish Reflection today:
"Finally, this gospel invites us to reflect on the value of Joseph's humility and obedience in accepting Jesus as his adopted son. Through his example, we learn the importance of trusting in God's will and being willing to follow his plans even if we do not fully understand them.
On this December 17th fair, let us remember the importance of God's faithfulness throughout history, the importance of knowing our tradition, and the importance of humility and obedience in our life of faith. May we follow Joseph's example and fully trust in God's will in our lives." end quote from
Roberto Juárez
Is it important that you know where you come from?
It is, especially if you are to be recognized in a lineage of Kings, because the heir is all about lineage.
What about you?
What about your lineage?
What about your Kingship?
It is important. Why or how? Because, it is in Christ that we claim this in our Holy Baptism. We are baptized in His Kingship, His priesthood, and His being a prophet.
We are one in His body.
So it matters tremendously. What is coming?
It is not about what is coming, but about WHO is coming.
He is coming.
Our Messiah, our Savior. We will relive, we will prepare our hearts in anticipation for His coming. We must.
Scriptures and commandments are not for amusement purposes, they are the Way of Life.
Tradition makes Scripture and Commandments come alive.
We must hold fast and true.
Lord, my God, and my King, we must prepare the way, in our lives for You.
Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be done. |  audio | Random Bible Verse 1
2 Timothy 2:22 [2 Timothy 2] 22 So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
