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Quote of the Day "We are born to love, we live to love, and we will die to love still more." — St. Joseph Cafasso
Today's Meditation Today's Meditation
"Faith is the key that puts every other truth into its proper place. Triumphs become opportunities for gratitude instead of pride. Tragedies become opportunities for growth instead of despair. Life just makes more sense and our faith in God gives us joy even when we face what can feel like insurmountable trials." —Matt Fradd, p.96 An excerpt from The Sinner's Guide
Daily Verse "He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he himself might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile all things for him, making peace by the blood of his cross [through him], whether those on earth or those in heaven." — Colossians 1:18-20 | St. Joseph Cafasso (1811–1860) was born in Castelnuovo d'Asti, Italy, to a peasant family. He was born with a physical deformity of the spine, which caused him to grow into a stunted and crippled man. Discerning a call to Holy Orders, he entered the seminary in Turin where he later met another famous saint—John Bosco. Joseph taught John Bosco and encouraged him in his mission to minister to the town's impoverished street youth. Joseph was an excellent professor of moral theology, as well as a famed preacher and confessor. He performed his duties so well that he became known as the "Priest's Priest." He spent entire days preaching in prisons, offering comfort to the prisoners, hearing their confessions, and even advocating to improve the poor conditions of the prison. For this work he also earned the name, "Priest of the Gallows." St. Joseph Cafasso is the patron saint of prisoners, prisons, and prison chaplains. His feast day is June 23rd. | Monday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Genesis 12:1-9 The LORD said to Abram:
"Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk
and from your father's house to a land that I will show you. "I will make of you a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
so that you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you
and curse those who curse you.
All the communities of the earth
shall find blessing in you." Abram went as the LORD directed him, and Lot went with him.
Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.
Abram took his wife, Sarai, his brother's son Lot,
all the possessions that they had accumulated,
and the persons they had acquired in Haran,
and they set out for the land of Canaan.
When they came to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land
as far as the sacred place at Shechem,
by the terebinth of Moreh.
(The Canaanites were then in the land.) The LORD appeared to Abram and said,
"To your descendants I will give this land."
So Abram built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him.
From there he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel,
pitching his tent with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east.
He built an altar there to the LORD and invoked the LORD by name.
Then Abram journeyed on by stages to the Negeb. Responsorial Psalm Psalm 33:12-13, 18-19, 20 and 22 R. (12) Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.
From heaven the LORD looks down;
he sees all mankind. R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine. R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield.
May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us
who have put our hope in you. R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own. Alleluia Hebrews 4:12 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The word of God is living and effective,
able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Matthew 7:1-5 Jesus said to his disciples:
"Stop judging, that you may not be judged.
For as you judge, so will you be judged,
and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.
Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye,
but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?
How can you say to your brother,
'Let me remove that splinter from your eye,'
while the wooden beam is in your eye?
You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first;
then you will see clearly
to remove the splinter from your brother's eye."
| Praise to You Oh Lord Jesus Christ! | Daily Meditation: Matthew 7:1-5 Remove the wooden beam from your eye first. (Matthew 7:5) Have you ever noticed how easy it is to see what's wrong with someone else? We can spot some people's shortcomings a mile away! But when it comes to ourselves, there are times when we "do not perceive" anything that needs to change—not even with the help of a microscope (Matthew 7:3)! So how can we become more aware of our own "wooden beams," especially the ones that threaten our ability to look at each other with love and compassion? By opening ourselves to the Spirit, who searches our hearts. One of the best ways to do this is by journaling. Every evening, not long before bedtime, spend a minute or two asking the Spirit to be with you. Then take a brief assessment of the day: Where did I see God at work today? Where did I fall short in responding to his movements in my heart? In a notebook, write down one or two positive events and one or two negative ones. Don't spend a lot of time on each; just write enough to get across your main point. Then ask the Lord to forgive what needs forgiving and thank him for the good he has given you. Over time the Spirit will show you those "wooden beams"—and give you the grace to whittle them down. Another approach is to consider asking a close friend for their feedback from time to time. You can ask, "How can I be a better friend?" or "Can you help me see one area in which I can be a little more Christlike?" Then ask the Lord for the grace to listen carefully and humbly. Guard against defensiveness or the temptation to blame other people. Try to be open to the Spirit speaking through that friend. If possible, ask them to pray with you for God's help in making a change. It takes time, effort, and trust in God's grace to remove the beams from our eyes. But nothing can compare to the joy that comes as we experience healing and freedom! And the best part of all? Every success brings us closer to the Lord. We discover that these wooden beams have kept us from seeing him in the people around us and from discovering him in the silence of our hearts. Jesus wants to set us free. He wants us to be able to see the world, as well as ourselves, through his eyes. Let's tell him we want the same thing! "Lord, come and heal the way I look at the people you have put in my life." Genesis 12:1-9
Psalm 33:12-13, 18-20, 22 | Reflections with Brother Adrian: |  Hear AI Read it for u | From today's Holy Gospel: "....Jesus said to his disciples:
"Stop judging, that you may not be judged.
For as you judge, so will you be judged,
and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.
Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye,
but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? ...." end quote. | From Bishop Barron:
"Friends, Jesus' parable in today's Gospel is one of the most psychologically and spiritually insightful remarks in the New Testament. Let's face it: a favorite pastime of most human beings is criticism of others. We delight in pointing out the shortcomings, moral failings, and annoying tendencies of our neighbors. This is, of course, a function of pride and egotism: The more I put someone else down, the more elevated I feel. But it is also, oddly, a magnificent means of turning a mirror on ourselves, to see what usually remains unseen. Why, we ought to ask, do we find precisely this sin of others particularly annoying? Why does that trait or sin of a confrere especially gall us? Undoubtedly, Jesus implies, because it reminds us of a similar failing in ourselves. I remember a retreat director asking each of us to call to mind a person that we found hard to take and then to recount in detail the characteristics that made the person so obnoxious to us. Then he recommended that we go back to our room and ask God to forgive those same faults in ourselves. His words were as unnerving and as illuminating as these words of Jesus." end quote Bishop Barron.
From Roberto Juarez:
"And this is where Jesus' question hooks: Why do you notice the speck in your brother's eye? We become judges of our brothers and sisters and do not look at our actions and attitudes. We are attentive to the failures of others and we do not see our own. We make a mountain out of something miniscule, but when our mistake is big we try to make it small. Before judging someone we must ask, know and not take anything for granted. We also have to keep in mind that we are not God and that if He judges us with mercy, who am I to judge anyone? God forgives us, why are we not also able to forgive?
First take the beam out of your eye. What is my beam? Pride, arrogance, envy, resistance to change. Life is my flaws, because I'm not perfect. But I look for perfection in the other and I detect his small beam that, although it is smaller than mine, stands out more in my consciousness. All the defects that I do not see in myself, I see in those who are by my side.
Jesus ends by inviting us not to be hypocrites, to only see the evil in others and not to see our own evil, because we will be judged with the same measure. • What consequences can judging others unfairly bring? • What beams do I have to take out of my eye before I get the speck out of the other? • How does God judge me?"
. end quote Roberto Juarez.
Our Lord brings up the eye in conversation. Moreover, it is about what we see in the others' eyes.
The people are looking at a giant log, they are looking at you, and you see in their eye something....that really is a reflection of you.
You make it a big deal when you notice their fault, but the greater fault could be you.
What if I argue with a loved one, making a big deal about something, but much of the fault is my own? Has that ever happened to you?
So, do we want to see splinters in others' eyes? This is why I don't like to look at people straight in the eyes! LOL. I'm just kidding.
I like to see the eyes, the windows to the souls. I do soul searching for God "where are you, child of God?"
It's pretty easy to see faults in others. But what about your own faults? And what does all this matter?
These little things are huge things. Our relations with one another. And, also, God's relation with Humanity in the Holy Spirit.
It is about the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Love of God's fire.
"You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first;
then you will see clearly
to remove the splinter from your brother's eye."
Wouldn't you like to see more clearly...God's ways? God's thoughts? And in this way...to see God's true will from Heaven for us on earth? May we see through the clarity of purity and humility that can be brought about through Holy Obedience and love of God, and love of God in neighbor..... |  audio | Random Bible Verse 1
2 Timothy 2:2 2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men,1 who will be able to teach others also. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
