† Quote of the Day ""Heaven could not span its Creator, but the faithful soul, and only it, becomes its dwelling place and seat, and it becomes so in virtue of charity of which the impious lack."" -St. Clare of Assisi Today's Meditation "Virtues allow us to become excellent - more fully and perfectly human - by disposing us to perform good acts, to perfect ourselves, and to give the best of ourselves. When we possess the virtues, it becomes easier and more natural and enjoyable for us to do the right things. We're able to maximize our human powers. Virtues make us and our actions good." —Kevin Vost, PSY.D., p.112-113 An excerpt from The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit Daily Verse "Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him." -John 14:21 | St Ambrose Edward Barlow St. Ambrose Edward Barlow (1585-1641) was born near Manchester, England, to a noble family. He was baptized Catholic at his birth, but was raised Protestant when Catholicism was outlawed by the reigning monarchy. His grandfather died while imprisoned for his Catholic faith, and his father had two-thirds of his estate confiscated for refusal to conform to the Church of England. Ambrose returned to Catholicism as an adult, recognized his vocation to the priesthood, and traveled to France to enter seminary. He was ordained in 1617 in the Order of St. Benedict. He returned to England to minister to underground Catholics in his native south Lancashire for 24 years, being financially supported with a pension arranged by his grandmother. Ambrose said Mass daily and administered the sacraments secretly to avoid detection by the authorities. He was arrested four times during his priesthood, each time being released without charge. When the king issued a decree that all Catholic priests should immediately flee the country or be arrested and condemned as traitors, St. Ambrose chose to stay, reasoning that he could not die a better death than to be martyred for being a Catholic priest. On April 25, 1631, just as he ended Easter Sunday Mass at Morley Hall near Manchester, he was arrested by a 400-strong armed mob led by the local Anglican vicar. He freely admitted to the charge of being a Catholic priest, and gave a defense of the true faith before his judge. He was sentenced to be hanged, drawn, quartered, and boiled in oil on September 10, 1641. His dead body was publicly displayed on a pike as a warning to other Catholic priests. St. Ambrose Edward Barlow is one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. His feast day is September 10th. | Wednesday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Colossians 3:1-11 Brothers and sisters:
If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above,
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ your life appears,
then you too will appear with him in glory. Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly:
immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire,
and the greed that is idolatry.
Because of these the wrath of God is coming upon the disobedient.
By these you too once conducted yourselves, when you lived in that way.
But now you must put them all away:
anger, fury, malice, slander,
and obscene language out of your mouths.
Stop lying to one another,
since you have taken off the old self with its practices
and have put on the new self,
which is being renewed, for knowledge,
in the image of its creator.
Here there is not Greek and Jew,
circumcision and uncircumcision,
barbarian, Scythian, slave, free;
but Christ is all and in all. Responsorial Psalm Psalm 145:2-3, 10-11, 12-13ab R. (9) The Lord is compassionate toward all his works.
Every day will I bless you,
and I will praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD and highly to be praised;
his greatness is unsearchable. R. The Lord is compassionate toward all his works.
Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your Kingdom
and speak of your might. R. The Lord is compassionate toward all his works.
Making known to men your might
and the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.
Your Kingdom is a Kingdom for all ages,
and your dominion endures through all generations.
R. The Lord is compassionate toward all his works. Alleluia Luke 6:23ab R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Rejoice and leap for joy!
Your reward will be great in heaven.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Luke 6:20-26 Raising his eyes toward his disciples Jesus said: "Blessed are you who are poor,
for the Kingdom of God is yours.
Blessed are you who are now hungry,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who are now weeping,
for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you,
and when they exclude and insult you,
and denounce your name as evil
on account of the Son of Man. "Rejoice and leap for joy on that day!
Behold, your reward will be great in heaven.
For their ancestors treated the prophets
in the same way.
But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
But woe to you who are filled now,
for you will be hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will grieve and weep.
Woe to you when all speak well of you,
for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way."
| Praise to You Oh Lord Jesus Christ! | Daily Meditation: Colossians 3:1-11 You have taken off the old self . . . and have put on the new self. (Colossians 3:9-10) Perhaps you have experienced something like this before: you find yourself in a conversation at a party, and almost without realizing it, you catch yourself trying to draw all the attention to yourself and dominate the conversation. Then you realize what you are doing, and you ask yourself, "Why did I do that?" There is part of you that enjoys being the center of attention, and so you "naturally" follow that desire. This example illustrates what Paul is speaking of in today's first reading when he talks about the "old self" and the "new self" (Colossians 3:9, 10). The "old self"—including that part of us that enjoys being selfish and uncaring—reveals our fallen nature, with all its sins and harmful inclinations. The "new self" is the renewed way of thinking and acting that is made possible for us in our Baptism. That's when we became children of God and were filled with grace to live in a way that is open to his wisdom and love. So now we have a choice: we can follow the inclinations of our "old self" with its slavery to sin and selfishness, or we can embrace the "new self" by asking the Holy Spirit to help us follow Jesus' way of self-giving love. In just a few short sentences, Paul has encapsulated the Christian life. Every one of us struggles with the call to take off the old and put on the new. So we should not be discouraged when we fail. Like Paul and Peter and so many millions of other believers, we can learn from our failures and let them teach us to depend on God's grace even more. After all, it's his grace that renews our new self, not our human effort alone. As Paul says, we are "being renewed" (Colossians 3:10, emphasis added). We're not there yet—it's a process. So make a plan. What will you do the next time you are confronted with a temptation that has been troubling you? How will you put off the old self and ask God for the grace to put on the new self? Or to put it another way, how will you embrace the privilege of letting the Spirit transform you? "Thank you, Jesus, for making me a new creation in you!" Psalm 145:2-3, 10-13
Luke 6:20-26 | Reflections with Brother Adrian: |  Hear AI Read it for u | From today's Holy Gospel: "Blessed are you who are poor,
for the Kingdom of God is yours.
Blessed are you who are now hungry,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who are now weeping,
for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you,
and when they exclude and insult you,
and denounce your name as evil
on account of the Son of Man......" Word of the Lord. | From Bishop Barron: "How bluntly Luke's account puts things! Look at Luke's first beatitude, a model for the rest: "Blessed are you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours." What if we translated this as, "How lucky you are if you are not addicted to material things." When we place material things in the center of our concerns, we find ourselves caught in an addictive pattern. Because material goods don't satisfy the hunger in my soul, I convince myself that I need more of them to gain contentment. So I strive and work to get more nice things—cars, homes, TVs, clothes—and then I find that those don't satisfy me. So I strive and strive, and the rhythm continues. Therefore, how lucky I would be if I were poor, unattached to material goods, finally indifferent to them." end quote.
Blessed are you if what again? If you are weeping? If you are filled with sorrow? Hungry? Hated and insulted for what?
Let's finish what our Lord says before we sing "Woe is me". Our Lord concluded this phrase with "on account of the Son of Man."
I have been much perplexed with the message of "the cross". I always ask students, yound and old alike "what is the so called cross". And normally the answer is about what one has to suffer in their lives. This last class I said "yes, but, sometimes, we pick our crosses, don't we? Maybe an old car that gives us much trouble, or the decisions we made or the people we hang out with, and of course the unexpected hits us....but what about the cross that our Lord offers?"
What is that cross? The cross of being another Christ. The cross of Holy Obedience. The cross that saints take up, and die for. The cross of self sacrifice for the Good and Holy will of God our Father. The cross that costs you everything.
Yet, see how easy it is to drop the cross and forget it.
How easy it is to give up on a ministry. How easy it is to forget to pray. How easy it is to complain. How easy it is to want to do nothing instead of suffering to do things for God. It costs something to be a true follower of Christ, it costs everything.
There is no looking back at what you have plowed. I was recently asked to start teaching another new class of those who want to be Catholic, in the OCIA process. I said "it's going to be another 2 or 3 year commitment, right Father?". It's going to cost me my family and work time. It is going to cost me dedication. It is going to cost me sufferings. I've done this for many years, and I've looked back at the plow, and I see nothing, no fruits. Almost all of my students are no longer going to church, for different reasons. One of them, I hired, becoming their friend, helped him get a special license, and he wound up quitting me, citing how terrible a family business we were, and they never came back to church. That was a low blow, after my dad's death, my boss at the business. It struck me on many levels, as friends, as church family, and personally and work. These are the things I get after surrendering myself to these people?
All these things ran through my mind, and still I said "Ok" to Father. Why? There is absolutely nothing in it for me. It has been lingering in my mind and heart still. I am not supposed to look at what fruits I expect, but what God sees. For that, it takes faith. It takes much work to be in God's business, His vineyard, and within His flock.
This is the cross we can choose, the cross that demands love, and love is a one way streak, God is a giver, there is no way to pay back, how can we say no?
The Mass itself is a sacrifice, of God and ourselves. It is a uniting of crosses, of loves, isn't it?
And loves are about everything...the mind, the heart, the soul, and even our bodies, is it not? If I asked you to join me in this heartfelt battle, would you?
There has been a real lack of love on all fronts. At church, at families, and work. But we cannot give up on God, our Hope, and Love itself. Rather, we should turn to Him, and love Him, the forgotten, the abandoned, the....cross itself. |  audio | Random Bible Verse 1 Proverbs 16:28 "A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends."
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God Bless You! Peace | | |
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