† Quote of the Day "Think well. Speak well. Do well. These three things, through the mercy of God, will make a man go to Heaven." — St. Camillus Today's Meditation "Jesus will turn your sorrow into joy. One can only imagine the shock and bewilderment the Apostles felt when the Lord told them he must go away. Though they could not understand it at the time, his departure was for their benefit. The same is true of the unexpected setbacks and tragedies we experience in this life . . . When I consider the times when I have been confounded by events that seemed so contrary to what I thought God wanted for me, I should be mindful that they were permitted by the Lord's inscrutable providence for my own good, as difficult as that might be to fathom." —Patrick Madrid, p. 251
An excerpt from A Year with the Bible Daily Verse "I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world." — John 16:33 St. Blaise
St. Blaise (d. 316 A.D.) was born into a wealthy Christian family in Armenia. He was trained as a physician before becoming a priest, and was finally ordained a bishop. When a wave of Christian persecution began, God instructed St. Blaise to hide in a desert cave. While he was in hiding, birds miraculously brought him food and sick men came to him to be healed. The king's hunters eventually discovered his cave and found it surrounded by a myriad of wild animals who came to the saint to be blessed, with Blaise able to walk freely among them. Recognizing him as the local bishop, the hunters took Blaise into custody. As he went with them he continued to preach and perform miracles along the way: he healed a boy choking to death on a bone, and commanded a wolf to release a captured pig belonging to a poor woman. When Blaise was sentenced to be starved to death, the woman killed her pig to feed St. Blaise in prison. He was eventually martyred under the reign of Licinius, his body torn with wool combs before being beheaded. Blaise is known as the patron saint of throat ailments, physicians, woolcombers, and wild animals. His feast is commemorated with the Blessing of the Throats, and is celebrated on February 3rd. | St. Blaise St. Blaise (d. 316 A.D.) was born into a wealthy Christian family in Armenia. He was trained as a physician before becoming a priest, and was finally ordained a bishop. When a wave of Christian persecution began, God instructed St. Blaise to hide in a desert cave. While he was in hiding, birds miraculously brought him food and sick men came to him to be healed. The king's hunters eventually discovered his cave and found it surrounded by a myriad of wild animals who came to the saint to be blessed, with Blaise able to walk freely among them. Recognizing him as the local bishop, the hunters took Blaise into custody. As he went with them he continued to preach and perform miracles along the way: he healed a boy choking to death on a bone, and commanded a wolf to release a captured pig belonging to a poor woman. When Blaise was sentenced to be starved to death, the woman killed her pig to feed St. Blaise in prison. He was eventually martyred under the reign of Licinius, his body torn with wool combs before being beheaded. Blaise is known as the patron saint of throat ailments, physicians, woolcombers, and wild animals. His feast is commemorated with the Blessing of the Throats, and is celebrated on February 3rd.
Find a devotional for this saint | Monday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Hebrews 11:32-40 Brothers and sisters:
What more shall I say?
I have not time to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah,
of David and Samuel and the prophets,
who by faith conquered kingdoms,
did what was righteous, obtained the promises;
they closed the mouths of lions, put out raging fires,
escaped the devouring sword;
out of weakness they were made powerful, became strong in battle,
and turned back foreign invaders.
Women received back their dead through resurrection.
Some were tortured and would not accept deliverance,
in order to obtain a better resurrection.
Others endured mockery, scourging, even chains and imprisonment.
They were stoned, sawed in two, put to death at sword's point;
they went about in skins of sheep or goats,
needy, afflicted, tormented.
The world was not worthy of them.
They wandered about in deserts and on mountains,
in caves and in crevices in the earth.
Yet all these, though approved because of their faith,
did not receive what had been promised.
God had foreseen something better for us,
so that without us they should not be made perfect. Responsorial Psalm 31:20, 21, 22, 23, 24 R. (25) Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord.
How great is the goodness, O LORD, which you have in store for those who fear you,
And which, toward those who take refuge in you, you show in the sight of the children of men. R. Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord.
You hide them in the shelter of your presence from the plottings of men;
You screen them within your abode from the strife of tongues. R. Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord.
Blessed be the LORD whose wondrous mercy he has shown me in a fortified city. R. Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord.
Once I said in my anguish, "I am cut off from your sight";
Yet you heard the sound of my pleading when I cried out to you. R. Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord.
Love the LORD, all you his faithful ones! The LORD keeps those who are constant, but more than requites those who act proudly.
R. Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord. Alleluia Luke 7:16 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
A great prophet has arisen in our midst
and God has visited his people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mark 5:1-20 Jesus and his disciples came to the other side of the sea,
to the territory of the Gerasenes.
When he got out of the boat,
at once a man from the tombs who had an unclean spirit met him.
The man had been dwelling among the tombs,
and no one could restrain him any longer, even with a chain.
In fact, he had frequently been bound with shackles and chains,
but the chains had been pulled apart by him and the shackles smashed,
and no one was strong enough to subdue him.
Night and day among the tombs and on the hillsides
he was always crying out and bruising himself with stones.
Catching sight of Jesus from a distance,
he ran up and prostrated himself before him,
crying out in a loud voice,
"What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?
I adjure you by God, do not torment me!"
(He had been saying to him, "Unclean spirit, come out of the man!")
He asked him, "What is your name?"
He replied, "Legion is my name. There are many of us."
And he pleaded earnestly with him
not to drive them away from that territory.
Now a large herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside.
And they pleaded with him,
"Send us into the swine. Let us enter them."
And he let them, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine.
The herd of about two thousand rushed down a steep bank into the sea,
where they were drowned.
The swineherds ran away and reported the incident in the town
and throughout the countryside.
And people came out to see what had happened.
As they approached Jesus,
they caught sight of the man who had been possessed by Legion,
sitting there clothed and in his right mind.
And they were seized with fear.
Those who witnessed the incident explained to them what had happened
to the possessed man and to the swine.
Then they began to beg him to leave their district.
As he was getting into the boat,
the man who had been possessed pleaded to remain with him.
But Jesus would not permit him but told him instead,
"Go home to your family and announce to them
all that the Lord in his pity has done for you."
Then the man went off and began to proclaim in the Decapolis
what Jesus had done for him; and all were amazed. | Praise to You Oh Lord Jesus Christ! | Daily Meditation: Psalm 31:20-24 How great is the goodness, O Lord, which you have in store for those who fear you. (Psalm 31:20) Today's responsorial psalm proclaims a message of hope. Whatever difficulties you may be facing, God will find a way to bring his goodness to you. He has not forgotten you! He is working even now to shower you with his blessings and grace. The psalmist begins by crying out to God for help and ends by proclaiming his faith that God will answer his prayer. He praises God for the "wondrous mercy he has shown me" and for hearing "the sound of my pleading" (Psalm 31:22, 23). Because of God's past faithfulness, he trusts that God will come to his aid again. And so he exults, "How great is the goodness, O Lord, which you have in store for those who fear you" (31:20). The author of Hebrews takes the same approach. He recounts Old Testament heroes of faith who trusted in the Lord despite suffering torture and death. Then he reminds his readers that, just as God had provided for David and the rest, he will provide for them—and for us! What's more, he says, we have an even greater reason than these figures from the past to place our hope in the Lord—because "God had foreseen something better for us" (Hebrews 11:40). And that "something better" is Jesus himself. Through Jesus, you can have the clean conscience and the new covenant with God that your forefathers longed for but never fully received. This is the "goodness" that Jesus has made possible by his death and resurrection, and he offers it to you, now and for all eternity. It can be hard to follow God sometimes. You may face temptation or suffering and grow weary. You may even be wavering between trust and lament today. But the truth still stands: God has promised you his goodness! Jesus has opened the way for you to receive it. And you have already tasted and seen that the Lord is good. So don't bear your burdens alone: unburden yourself to Jesus. Let him remind you that your Father has good things in store for you. Lift up your eyes to your risen Lord who awaits you. Even death is not the end of the story. God's goodness will pursue you all the days of your life (Psalm 23:6)! "Lord, I trust in you!" Hebrews 11:32-40
Mark 5:1-20 | Reflections with Brother Adrian: |  Hear AI Read it for u | From today's Holy Gospel: "And people came out to see what had happened.
As they approached Jesus,
they caught sight of the man who had been possessed by Legion,
sitting there clothed and in his right mind.
And they were seized with fear.
Those who witnessed the incident explained to them what had happened
to the possessed man and to the swine.
Then they began to beg him to leave their district.
As he was getting into the boat,
the man who had been possessed pleaded to remain with him.
But Jesus would not permit him but told him instead,
"Go home to your family and announce to them
all that the Lord in his pity has done for you."
Then the man went off and began to proclaim in the Decapolis
what Jesus had done for him; and all were amazed......" - Word of the Lord! | From Roberto Juarez:
"Just as he freed the possessed man, Jesus wants to free us from everything that enslaves us: sins, fears, past hurts, addictions or negative thoughts. What are the "chains" in my life that I need Jesus to break?
The devil had this man subdued, but before Jesus he had no choice but to submit. This reminds us that no force of evil is more powerful than God. Do I fully trust that Jesus has the power to transform any situation in my life?
The Gerasenes preferred that Jesus leave because his presence altered their lifestyle. Sometimes, we, too, fear the changes God wants to make in us. Am I open to the transformation that Jesus wants to work in my life or do I push him away for fear of leaving my comfort?
Jesus sends the healed man to bear witness. We too have received God's love and mercy. Am I sharing with others what God has done in my life?...." end quote.
It took a lot to heal a possessed man with upwards of a thousand demonic spirits or more inside that made him look like a wild incurable man, chained to a cemetery, doomed for life.
What would it cost? If you look financially, it cost that town a significant payroll, thousand of pigs possessed by demons that Jesus allowed to go into from the man at the request of the demons, and it cost many jobs, but what will it cost to save a man's soul?
We cannot value the worth, because God has paid a price that none of us would have even fathomed to pay.
Your very blood and body, soul and God's divinity is the price.
And the only way we can pay now is by sacrificial thanksgiving, which is hidden yet revealed to the little ones in the Holy Sacraments, especially that of the Holy Eucharist.
I reminded the nursing home folks that their sufferings are precious and valuable for the Lord. We are locked up, but we are free to offer up to God our lives. We are in a sense, chained and bound to this earth and their is a dark ruler that has a say many times, but we do not need to live in oppression that often causes a depression. Remember, that our Lord has not only come to save that horrible person, or crazy person, but you as well. Did you know that the world's exorcist have lost their effectiveness in deliverance for the last hundred years? It can take upwards of years and years of exorcisms to free a person. But it didn't use to be that way. What used to take weeks, now takes years. What used to take weeks, used to take hours to free a person. Why?
Your prayers, your holiness matters. You see, the priests are of the body of Christ, and if we are of a body that is weakening in faith, then it takes that much longer to deliver someone, to free someone. If only all of us would just do our part in being holy, set apart for God.
If only we would offer more prayer, fasting, all things sacrifice for God and His people, both living and the dead, the world would change.
I do believe it is and can be on the upward trend, but it is going to be all of us on board to make it happen. Lord, I do want to be intimately united with You, but it cannot happen with my fellow Christians, all baptized into Your Holy Body. Help us with God's grace, the Holy Spirit, to be a more effective people that loves God more truly, more intimately, more eternally, because He deserves this more than we will ever know. |  audio | Random Bible Verse 1
John 14:2–3 2 In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?1 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
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