† Quote of the Day "It is part of the discipline of God to make His loved ones perfect through trial and suffering. Only by carrying the Cross can one reach the Resurrection." — Fulton Sheen Today's Meditation "Each of us must come to the evening of life. Each of us must enter on eternity. Each of us must come to that quiet, awful time, when we will appear before the Lord of the vineyard, and answer for the deeds done in the body, whether they be good or bad. That, my dear brethren, you will have to undergo. ... It will be the dread moment of expectation when your fate for eternity is in the balance, and when you are about to be sent forth as the companion of either saints or devils, without possibility of change. There can be no change; there can be no reversal. As that judgment decides it, so it will be for ever and ever. Such is the particular judgment. ... when we find ourselves by ourselves, one by one, in his presence, and have brought before us most vividly all the thoughts, words, and deeds of this past life. Who will be able to bear the sight of himself? And yet we shall be obliged steadily to confront ourselves and to see ourselves. In this life we shrink from knowing our real selves. We do not like to know how sinful we are. We love those who prophecy smooth things to us, and we are angry with those who tell us of our faults. But on that day, not one fault only, but all the secret, as well as evident, defects of our character will be clearly brought out. We shall see what we feared to see here, and much more. And then, when the full sight of ourselves comes to us, who will not wish that he had known more of himself here, rather than leaving it for the inevitable day to reveal it all to him!" —Saint John Henry Newman, p. 101
An excerpt from A Year with the Saints Daily Verse "If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions." — Matthew 6:14-15 | St. Conon Of Naso St. Conon of Naso (1139–1236) was a wealthy nobleman, the son of a Count, from Naso, Italy. He was a devout young man, and at the age of 15 become a monk. He lived as a hermit until being called to serve the local monastery as its abbot. Upon the death of his parents he distributed his inheritance to the poor. While on pilgrimage to Jerusalem he had a vision of a priest he knew being choked by a snake. Conan raced to the priest to warn him of the danger. The priest's heart was convicted by the truth of the vision and confessed that he was hoarding money and neglecting the poor. Under Conan's direction the priest gave his excessive savings to the poor and recommitted his life to serving others. After his death, Conon was hailed as a miracle worker. The city of Naso experienced a series of terrible storms which destroyed crops and disrupted the shipping trade, and the city ran out of grain and other food supplies. When the famine became severe, St. Conon appeared in a vision to a ship captain who was preparing to transport a load of grain. Conon told the captain to change course and take the grain to Naso. The captain obeyed the vision and arrived in Naso with food to relieve the famine. St. Conon's feast day is March 28th. | Friday of the Third Week of Lent Reading 1 Hosea 14:2-10 Thus says the LORD:
Return, O Israel, to the LORD, your God;
you have collapsed through your guilt.
Take with you words,
and return to the LORD;
Say to him, "Forgive all iniquity,
and receive what is good, that we may render
as offerings the bullocks from our stalls.
Assyria will not save us,
nor shall we have horses to mount;
We shall say no more, 'Our god,'
to the work of our hands;
for in you the orphan finds compassion." I will heal their defection, says the LORD,
I will love them freely;
for my wrath is turned away from them.
I will be like the dew for Israel:
he shall blossom like the lily;
He shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar,
and put forth his shoots.
His splendor shall be like the olive tree
and his fragrance like the Lebanon cedar.
Again they shall dwell in his shade
and raise grain;
They shall blossom like the vine,
and his fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon. Ephraim! What more has he to do with idols?
I have humbled him, but I will prosper him.
"I am like a verdant cypress tree"–
Because of me you bear fruit! Let him who is wise understand these things;
let him who is prudent know them.
Straight are the paths of the LORD,
in them the just walk,
but sinners stumble in them. Responsorial Psalm Psalm 81:6c-8a, 8bc-9, 10-11ab, 14 and 17 R. (see 11 and 9a) I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.
An unfamiliar speech I hear:
"I relieved his shoulder of the burden;
his hands were freed from the basket.
In distress you called, and I rescued you." R. I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.
"Unseen, I answered you in thunder;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
Hear, my people, and I will admonish you;
O Israel, will you not hear me?" R. I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.
"There shall be no strange god among you nor shall you worship any alien god.
I, the LORD, am your God
who led you forth from the land of Egypt." R. I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.
"If only my people would hear me,
and Israel walk in my ways,
I would feed them with the best of wheat,
and with honey from the rock I would fill them." R. I am the Lord your God: hear my voice. Verse Before the Gospel Matthew 4:17 Repent, says the Lord;
the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. Gospel Mark 12:28-34 One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,
"Which is the first of all the commandments?"
Jesus replied, "The first is this:
Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these."
The scribe said to him, "Well said, teacher.
You are right in saying,
He is One and there is no other than he.
And to love him with all your heart,
with all your understanding,
with all your strength,
and to love your neighbor as yourself
is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."
And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,
he said to him,
"You are not far from the Kingdom of God."
And no one dared to ask him any more questions. | Praise to You Oh Lord Jesus Christ! | Daily Meditation: Hosea 14:2-10 Return, O Israel, to the Lord, your God. (Hosea 14:2) Few things are more painful than the betrayal of an unfaithful spouse. That's why the Book of Hosea is especially moving: it portrays God's relationship with Israel through Hosea's heartbreaking marriage. Through Hosea's unbending love for his adulterous wife, God reveals his unchanging covenant love for unfaithful Israel. "Return to the Lord," he pleads over and over again (Hosea 14:3). Today, just as in Hosea's time, God continues to plead with his people to come back to him. Since Lent is all about God's call to come home, let's listen for his voice in the words of Hosea. You have collapsed through your guilt (14:2). We all know how oppressive the burden of guilt can be. Even if we try to gloss over our offenses, unrepented sin can weigh us down like a heavy chain tangled around us. Sometimes we even carry guilt over sins we have already confessed. Still, our faithful God calls to us, Return to me! Let me lift this weight that exhausts you and drags you down. Take with you words (14:3). God knows that repenting of our sins is the first step toward freedom. Consciously naming them before him is the best way to bring them into the light, where he can free us. Our words of repentance, whether spoken in the confessional or in the silence of our hearts at prayer, have the power to unlock the chains that have dragged us down. It's not always easy, though, to find the right words. But that doesn't matter to the Lord. Just say whatever comes to your heart. Return to me! God implores. I am ready to forgive. I will heal their defection (14:5). Not only will God forgive us, but he promises to gradually heal us of the urges and drives that cause us to sin. Every time we turn to him and encounter his love, our hearts melt a little bit more, and we find it a little bit easier to act out of love instead of selfishness. Can you hear him crying out? Return to me! Come and be healed! "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me, a sinner!" Psalm 81:6-11, 14, 17
Mark 12:28-34 | Reflections with Brother Adrian: |  Hear AI Read it for u | From today's Holy Gospel: "One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,
"Which is the first of all the commandments?"
Jesus replied, "The first is this:
Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these."....." - Word of the Lord! | From Roberto Juarez:
"The scribe recognizes that loving God and neighbor is more important than external sacrifices and rituals.
Jesus says to him: "You are not far from the Kingdom of God", because he has understood the essentials.
Is my faith based only on external practices or on a true loving relationship with God and others? • Do I love God with my whole being, or are there things that take His place in my heart? • Is my love for God reflected in love for others, even those I find hard to accept?
• Do I understand that true worship of God is to live love in every action? 'Lord
Teach me to love you with all my heart
To put you at the center of my life
and to reflect your love in my dealings with others.
May my faith not be just words,
but an authentic dedication to You and to my brothers and sisters.
Amen'........" end quote Roberto Juarez.
From a Spanish Friar: Fray Manuel Santos Sánchez O.P: "Which commandment is the first of all?
The question and answer of this gospel is well known to us. The important thing is that love of God and love of neighbor are inseparable. You don't love God if you don't love your neighbor. You don't love your neighbor if you don't love God.
Our temptation is to see them separated. That is why Jesus insists so much on their union. This union is one of the most genuine of our Christianity. I don't know if I'm right, but it seems to me that it's easier for all of us to love God than it is to love our brothers and sisters, our neighbors.
As in everyone, here too, without Jesus' help, "without me you can do nothing," we are unable to live and keep these commandments. We already know, ask Jesus for his powerful and divine help." end quote.
From brother Adrian: I Love reading so many daily reflections of the Holy Scriptures, commentaries, and teachers, and as for me, I always try to bring it down to earth, in examples of daily life to see how we can apply and make scriptures real, embodied in the flesh, what comes from the spirit. We read from a new reflection today words that need to be impressed on us all when Friar Manuel Santos said "... love of God and love of neighbor are inseparable."
We cannot go to Church, say we love God, and then come out swinging fists of fury!
Yet, it happens.
We cannot go preaching to the world what is right, and we cannot swallow the pill of humility into our very soul!
Someone asked me "Adrian, how can I show God that I love Him?"
The only thing that is in Scripture, is that we follow His commands, and our Lord says how we can better or more clearly show God we love Him...through our people, whom He calls "neighbor".
I also liked a quote from Mother Teresa that said "the people in the parks, the alcoholics, the homeess, they are looking at you. Do not be those who look and do not see. Look and see."
We must look and see not only with our brains and eyes, but with our heart.
The whole of lent is meant to help us open our eyes. To be stronger in this heart muscle, we must exercise it. There are probably many atheists in Heaven, that knew God better than many Christians who refused to open their hearts to the poor, many of which are addicts, many of which are unforgivable, many of which are outcasts, many of which are those whom we have chosen to cast out of our lives.
And there, in their heart...also lives the living God.
Now, down to the example that I need to give, many times I catch heat because of what I say, but here we go the purpose of my 2 cents. Yesterday, an alcoholic and drug addict relative, that says he is no longer living the horrible ways, and is now trying hard to prove it by coming around his estranged family and helping them pay bills, said he wanted an old motor-home RV I just bought because I thought it was a great deal. I intended to refurbish it and sell it or use it because it runs really nice. But, something also told me that it'd probably go to this loved one deep down, although, I didn't want to throw it out there, because I've already bought him an RV to get off the streets.
Well, he hit me up for it, said he wanted it. I said OK, although, not cheerfully, because I know what is coming from experience, he will want to pay it in small payments, many of which he will drag on and postpone for who knows how long, so in essence it is a high risk...love offering, LOL. He begged I deliver it because his license has issues. I didn't want to yesterday, it was late, he didn't bother asking early like I told him. I reluctantly took it though, squeezed it in the back of an alley where I saw for the first time where he was staying, a truck camper, about 8 foot long, living there for over a year. Then he says he wants to give that camper to a black man living in his truck for over 3 years. This began to open my eyes, "so there is more to it than I thought, more people are benefiting from this purchase I had no idea why I did in the first place".
Am I amazed that all this happened? Yes, again. Did I get a really good warm fuzzy feeling out of it? No. But, at this point, it is not about feelings anymore. I do things, thank God I was a part of it, and my only regret is perhaps not seeming more cheerful, but deep down inside...I am glad. I told my son that traveled with me, "you see son, we wanted to fix up this motorhome for us to enjoy once or twice a year, but this man is going to live in it all year long, and is extremely excited about it". My boy smiled "yeah, you're right" and the gift becomes a love offering. Lord, thank you for opening our hearts and our eyes...if only we say yes to You. | Random Bible Verse 1
Romans 12:2 "Do not be conformed to this world,1 but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." Word of the Lord. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
