† Quote of the Day Quote of the Day
"[Jesus'] body was for Him not a limitation, but an instrument, so that He was both in it and in all things, and outside all things, resting in the Father above. At one and the same time—this is the wonder—as man He was a human life, and as Word He was sustaining the life of the universe, and as Son He was in constant union with the Father." — St. Athanasius of Alexandria Today's Meditation "See, you're bought at a great price. We're told that in Scripture over and over and over. Jesus died for you! And, because He bought you at a great price, you have to understand that you're never alone. You are very, very special to God. But some of you who don't understand that think that God doesn't care. I get that feeling myself sometimes. I've said to Our Lord, "Look, don't You care? Whose side are You on?" I have myself been disheartened. But, in spite of the difficulties within and without, I try to keep my eyes on Jesus and know that Our Lord and Savior loves me, knows me, and has chosen me to be great in His eyes - to be holy, to be saintly, to be compassionate, and to be good." —Mother Angelica, p. 44
An excerpt from Mother Angelica's Guide to the Spiritual Life Daily Verse "At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known. So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love." — 1 Corinthians 13:12-13 | St. Porphyry St. Porphyry (Porphyrius) of Gaza (c. 347-420 A.D.) was born in Thessalonica in present-day Greece. Although a wealthy man, at the age of 25 he went to live in Egypt as a desert hermit. He later moved to Palestine near the Jordan River, then to Jerusalem itself. He did great penances and would often visit the holy places where Jesus lived and walked, despite his poor health. He then renounced all material goods and his inheritance and became a priest in Jerusalem at the age of 40. The relics of the True Cross in Jerusalem were entrusted to his care. Despite his protests he was ordained Bishop of Gaza, a pagan stronghold with an insignificant Christian community. Gaza's pagans were hostile, and St. Porphyry appealed to the emperor for protection and for the destruction of pagan temples, which he obtained. St. Porphyry built a Christian church on the site of the most important pagan temple dedicated to the chief god, so that he could say Mass in the place where the devil was previously most honored. St. Porphyry labored for his flock and won many converts through his miracles, though pagan opposition continued throughout his life. He was successful in spreading the Christian faith across his diocese. His feast day is February 26. | Wednesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Sirach 4:11-19 Wisdom breathes life into her children
and admonishes those who seek her.
He who loves her loves life;
those who seek her will be embraced by the Lord.
He who holds her fast inherits glory;
wherever he dwells, the LORD bestows blessings.
Those who serve her serve the Holy One;
those who love her the LORD loves.
He who obeys her judges nations;
he who hearkens to her dwells in her inmost chambers.
If one trusts her, he will possess her;
his descendants too will inherit her.
She walks with him as a stranger
and at first she puts him to the test;
Fear and dread she brings upon him
and tries him with her discipline
until she try him by her laws and trust his soul.
Then she comes back to bring him happiness
and reveal her secrets to them
and she will heap upon him
treasures of knowledge and an understanding of justice.
But if he fails her, she will abandon him
and deliver him into the hands of despoilers. Responsorial Psalm Psalm 119:165, 168, 171, 172, 174, 175 R. (165a) O Lord, great peace have they who love your law.
Those who love your law have great peace,
and for them there is no stumbling block.
R. O Lord, great peace have they who love your law.
I keep your precepts and your decrees,
for all my ways are before you.
R. O Lord, great peace have they who love your law.
My lips pour forth your praise,
because you teach me your statutes.
R. O Lord, great peace have they who love your law.
May my tongue sing of your promise,
for all your commands are just.
R. O Lord, great peace have they who love your law.
I long for your salvation, O LORD,
and your law is my delight.
R. O Lord, great peace have they who love your law.
Let my soul live to praise you,
and may your ordinances help me.
R. O Lord, great peace have they who love your law. Alleluia John 14:6 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the way and the truth and the life, says the Lord;
no one comes to the Father except through me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mark 9:38-40 John said to Jesus,
"Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name,
and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us."
Jesus replied, "Do not prevent him.
There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name
who can at the same time speak ill of me.
For whoever is not against us is for us."
| Praise to You Oh Lord Jesus Christ! | Daily Meditation: Mark 9:38-40 Do not prevent him. (Mark 9:39) The disciples were concerned. Someone who was not part of their group was expelling demons in Jesus' name. Did he know what he was doing? What if he was putting himself in harm's way? Or what if, being so successful, he became more popular than Jesus himself? So they tried to shut him down. Jesus, however, had a different view: "Do not prevent him. . . . Whoever is not against us is for us" (Mark 9:39, 40). He could see that, in addition to their legitimate concerns about this stranger, something else was going on. The disciples were also concerned about their status. They were the only ones Jesus had officially commissioned to cast out demons (6:7). Perhaps they were jealous of this fellow. After all, he was succeeding where they had failed (9:14-19)! It wasn't the first time that Jesus had encountered this kind of thinking among the Twelve. He had caught them arguing about who among them was the greatest—and who wasn't (Mark 9:33-34). And he had seen them try to dismiss a pagan woman who was begging Jesus to heal her daughter (Matthew 15:23). But Jesus is not about exclusion. His kingdom is open to everyone equally. No one gets special access or receives special treatment. Quite the opposite, in fact. If anyone is the "greatest," it's the "one who serves" (Luke 22:27). It's the one who welcomes little children (Mark 9:37) and who feeds the hungry, visits prisoners, and clothes the naked (Matthew 25:35-36). In other words, it's the ones who strive to be like Jesus, who "did not come to be served but to serve" (20:28). Jesus told his disciples, "Whoever is not against us is for us" (Mark 9:40). Anyone who works to liberate people—emotionally, spiritually, physically—is doing God's work. The world is hurting too much for us to worry about who is and who is not part of our group. The only real question is whether we are joining Jesus in his work of salvation. "Jesus, give me your heart of humility and love and service." Sirach 4:11-19
Psalm 119:165, 168, 171-172, 174-175 | Reflections with Brother Adrian: |  Hear AI Read it for u | From today's Holy Gospel: "Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name,
and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us."
Jesus replied, "Do not prevent him.
There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name
who can at the same time speak ill of me.
For whoever is not against us is for us."......" - Word of the Lord! | From Bishop Barron:
"Friends, today in the Gospel, John complains to Jesus that someone not of their group was driving out demons in Jesus' name. Jesus responds, "Do not prevent him. . . . Whoever is not against us is for us." What a wonderful, generous attitude!
John was undoubtedly angry that someone outside of their little circle was going to get credit. If you think that this sort of thing only happened in biblical times, you haven't spent too much time around the Church! I'm a proud churchman, and I love and admire all of the great people who do so much for Christ's kingdom, and for very little compensation. But I've also been around long enough to see this problem on parish staffs, in diocesan offices, within rectories, and among parish communities. We get so tied up in our little games and protecting our turf and making sure things go according to the bureaucratic structures that we have established that we forget what the mission is about.
What Jesus saw was that the mission is what matters. Bringing God's love to the world, being a conduit of grace: that's what matters. All of our personal glory, position, privilege—all of that is finally a matter of indifference........" end quote.
From Roberto Juarez:
"Jesus invites us to recognize that good can come from many places. Am I willing to work in unity with others for just causes, even if we don't all share the same beliefs?
It is easy to judge from the outside without knowing people's true intentions. Do I seek to understand and be compassionate instead of criticizing?..." end quote.
Division and dissension, it seems to be prevalent, and an attitude that makes for a toxic atmosphere, especially amongst Christians, and their families. What is at the root? The root is sin. And sin means to miss the mark, as a quick lookup says "The Greek word for "sin" is hamartia, an archery term for "missing the mark." We could say that sin is not just making an error in judgment in a particular case, but missing the whole point of human life; not just the violation of a law, but an insult to a relationship with the One to whom we owe everything...".
We are missing the point, when we start to form divisions, cliques, and clubs that seems to be a part of our sinful nature called concupiscence, that natural tendency to sin because of fallen nature brought about the first sin of our spiritual parents Adam and Eve.
Saint John the Apostle thought he saw divisions, those healing in Jesus' name without being a part of them. But God, our Lord Jesus said otherwise.
He said simply "There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us."
If you live in a humble life of grace, you will be quick to see what factions are forming to become a division, in church, in family, and beyond. And if you are living in humble grace, you will be quick to remedy the situation.
Need a plain example? I will use myself as the test dummy.
This is the purpose, for you to learn from others' mistakes, and so you have a living witness giving testimony of their past mistakes so that you might learn. Inside of me, in this ministry, someone constantly seemed against everything I was doing, all the plans as a leader seemed to be countered. I always attempt to take some truths to criticisms, but it just seemed there was no way to make them happy, to the point that I thought within "why don't I just let them take over the entire project, perhaps alleviating me of all the distress!?" In other words, I wanted to quit.
Remember now, you are hearing the test dummy speak. Nobody asked me to quit. Nobody told me to leave. But these little "feelings" just keep creeping up "should you give up now?" are the quiet temptations from the dark. "Why do you have to put up with this?". These are temptations that I see many listen to, and leave many ministries, families, and parishes.
But this test dummy took a hit and survived. What seat belt did he use?
A bitter taste of the cross. Take the lashings. Take the ridicule. Take it and do not respond with their own medicine. In other words, just hang in there....on the cross, the cross of our Lord. The only way to leave a ministry is if you leave it good hands and in peace, a graceful passing of a baton in the race in the Kingdom of God.
Have I ventured, have I missed the mark?
Whoever is for us cannot be against us.
Work with people. We don't get along perfectly, forgive them anyways. If I fired every person that goofed up, I would have no more employees. There is a process that God calls for, and it is grace. Bring it up to them. If nothing else, bring 2 or 3 others with you about the issue. If nothing else present it to the whole church, then leave it in God's hands. You see, grace and love go much further to make mercy happen.
Am I still off the mark?
Look at the thousands, over 70,0000 Christian denominations. Some of the protestants call Catholics the anti-Christ. They criticize everything about Catholics. What does the Church do? It is patient. And the ancient root word of patience is "pator" which means to suffer it out.
That's why I say..."hang in there".
"Father, forgive them, for they do not know! They do not know what they are doing! So much damage! Help us with grace! Help us bring things to You in loving grace, to see what You have to say. May we always look to You for all guidance in every little thing, to bring grace and love into what we think is impossible!" |  audio | Random Bible Verse 1
Psalm 4:8
"In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety." Word of the Lord! | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
