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Quote of the Day
"If you learn everything except Christ, you learn nothing. If you learn nothing except Christ, you learn everything." — St. Bonaventure
Today's Meditation ""If you would suffer with patience the adversities and miseries of this life, be a man of prayer. If you would obtain courage and strength to conquer the temptations of the enemy, be a man of prayer. If you would mortify your own will with all its inclinations and appetites, be a man of prayer. If you would know the wiles of Satan and unmask his deceits, be a man of prayer. If you would live in joy and walk pleasantly in the ways of penance, be a man of prayer. If you would banish from you soul the troublesome flies of vain thoughts and cares, be a man of prayer. If you would nourish your soul with the very sap of devotion, and keep it always full of good thoughts and good desires, be a man of prayer. If you would strengthen and keep up your courage in the ways of God, be a man of prayer. In fine, if you would uproot all vices from your soul and plant all virtues in their place, be a man of prayer. It is in prayer that we receive the unction and grace of the Holy Ghost, who teaches all things." —St. Bonaventure, p. 25-26
Daily Verse "Then he said to the host who invited him, "When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." — Luke 14:12-14 | St. Bonaventure (1221–1274) was born with the name Giovanni in Tuscany, Italy. As a child he became seriously ill and was in danger of death until his mother brought him to St. Francis of Assisi, who was then living in the region as a mendicant friar. It is said that St. Francis healed the child and afterward exclaimed, "O buona ventura (O good fortune)!" when he prophetically perceived how great the child would one day become, and this is how he began to be called Bonaventure. He joined the Franciscan order at the age of 22 and went on to study theology at the University of Paris, where he became famous friends with the Dominican friar St. Thomas Aquinas. The two friends graduated together, each insisting that the other be the first to receive honors. St. Bonaventure is regarded as one of the great philosophers and theologians of the Middle Ages, earning the name "Seraphic Doctor." In addition to his many writings, including a Life of St. Francis of Assisi, he was elected to serve as head of his order, and was appointed a cardinal-bishop by the Holy Father. St. Bonaventure died while assisting at the Second Council of Lyons, which worked for the reunification of the Catholic Church with the Eastern Orthodox churches. His feast day is celebrated on July 15th. | Exodus 2:1-15a A certain man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, who conceived and bore a son. Seeing that he was a goodly child, she hid him for three months. When she could hide him no longer, she took a papyrus basket, daubed it with bitumen and pitch, and putting the child in it, placed it among the reeds on the river bank. His sister stationed herself at a distance to find out what would happen to him. Pharaoh's daughter came down to the river to bathe, while her maids walked along the river bank. Noticing the basket among the reeds, she sent her handmaid to fetch it. On opening it, she looked, and lo, there was a baby boy, crying! She was moved with pity for him and said, "It is one of the Hebrews' children." Then his sister asked Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and call one of the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?" "Yes, do so," she answered. So the maiden went and called the child's own mother. Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will repay you." The woman therefore took the child and nursed it. When the child grew, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, who adopted him as her son and called him Moses; for she said, "I drew him out of the water." On one occasion, after Moses had grown up, when he visited his kinsmen and witnessed their forced labor, he saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his own kinsmen. Looking about and seeing no one, he slew the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. The next day he went out again, and now two Hebrews were fighting! So he asked the culprit, "Why are you striking your fellow Hebrew?" But the culprit replied, "Who has appointed you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?" Then Moses became afraid and thought, "The affair must certainly be known." Pharaoh, too, heard of the affair and sought to put Moses to death. But Moses fled from him and stayed in the land of Midian. Psalm 69:3, 14, 30-31, 33-34 R. Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.
I am sunk in the abysmal swamp
where there is no foothold;
I have reached the watery depths;
the flood overwhelms me. R.
But I pray to you, O Lord,
for the time of your favor, O God!
In your great kindness answer me
with your constant help. R.
But I am afflicted and in pain;
let your saving help, O God, protect me;
I will praise the name of God in song,
and I will glorify him with thanksgiving. R.
"See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the Lord hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not." R. Gospel Acclamation Alleluia, alleluia.
If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts. -Ps 95:8
Alleluia, alleluia. Matthew 11:20-24 Jesus began to reproach the towns where most of his mighty deeds had been done, since they had not repented. "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And as for you, Capernaum: Will you be exalted to heaven?
_ You will go down to the netherworld._ For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you." | Praise to You Oh Lord Jesus Christ! | Daily Meditation: Matthew 11:20-24 If the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented. (Matthew 11:21) This statement must have been shocking to Jesus' listeners! Tyre and Sidon were notoriously wicked pagan cities in Jesus' day. Old Testament prophets had railed against them as being destined to drink the "cup of the wine of wrath" for serving false gods (Jeremiah 25:15). So the Galileans who heard this would have been stunned that they were being compared unfavorably to these unbelievers! That's exactly what Jesus was trying to do—to shock them into realizing that they needed to repent. What's more, they had less of an excuse than Tyre and Sidon because the Messiah, God himself, had come among them. Jesus wanted his hearers to see that it wasn't enough to have the privilege of being descendants of Abraham or living in the Promised Land. Neither was it enough to be able to say that they had seen him or witnessed any of his miracles. They needed to change their hearts. And if they didn't, their sins would destroy them. What lesson can we take from these words of Jesus—which are some of the sternest words he utters in the New Testament? If anything, it's that we shouldn't take our faith for granted. Think, for instance, of the mightiest "deeds of God" that you've experienced personally. Jesus' cross and resurrection outshine them all! And then there's the mighty deed and awesome gift of the Eucharist, which is Jesus' very presence offered to us every single day. And of course, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, which wipes away all our sins and heals our wounded hearts. So many gifts from the Lord! So many "mighty deeds" that reveal his goodness, his holiness, and his mercy! As often as you can today, recall "the mighty deeds" of the Lord. You can do this by reciting the Creed from Mass, by praying the mysteries of the Rosary, or by recalling your favorite Scripture passages or hymns. Let these deeds remind you that the "kindness of God" is meant to "lead you to repentance" (Romans 2:4). Let them convince you that a God this loving will always forgive! "Lord, I am in awe of your mighty deeds! Help me to live a life worthy of your kindness today." Exodus 2:1-15
Psalm 69:3, 14, 30-31, 33-34 | Reflections with Brother Adrian: |  Hear AI Read it for u | From today's Holy Gospel: "For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you....." end quote. | From Roberto Juarez:
"It challenges us since we are also people who have received a lot. Word, sacraments, community, formation... are we responding with real conversion? It is not enough to have heard or to know. Jesus calls us to transform life from within. • Am I responding consistently to all that God has given me in my life? It's striking: even seeing miracles, people don't change. They remain closed to the message. This teaches us something important: faith is not imposed, it is freely accepted. God acts, but He waits for our answer. Inner change does not depend only on what we see, but on our openness of heart to God's grace. We can see signs of love every day – the life, the forgiveness, the presence of Jesus – and still live indifferent. How much damage spiritual routine does to us!
Perhaps we have heard the Gospel many times and yet we continue to resist God's passage in concrete aspects: in forgiveness, generosity, time for prayer, service to others. • Have I fallen into a spiritual rut, hoping for "something extraordinary" to change? Jesus speaks firmly, with a strong tone, but also with love. He does not want to condemn, but to awaken, he urgently calls us to change. He warns us that we cannot continue to wait for a better time to change. Conversion cannot be postponed indefinitely. The time of grace is today, not tomorrow. The Gospel calls us to live our following seriously, not superficially. Today, each one of us can ask ourselves: in what area of my life is Jesus asking me for a more committed response? What miracles has He done in my history that I have not yet been able to thank with a new life? • What concrete attitudes is Jesus asking me to transform today? God has been good to us. He has spoken to us many times and in many ways. The question is: what have we done with his word? Let us not harden our hearts. Conversion is the best act of gratitude we can offer." end quote.
There's something really frustrating about people. I don't know how our Lord and God puts up with us. We are so forgetful. And in being forgetful, we are ungrateful! Lord have mercy on us. Probably the best words we can pray in Mass and in our daily walk on earth, "Lord have mercy on me a poor sinner".
At work or at home, I tell people in a broad meeting, "let's do this daily", or the workers "I want a daily report" and nobody reports, or at home, the kids I tell "check trashes and throw them daily" and they forget. And at church, I hear the words to "love and forgive those who wrong you" and I see the same people at daily mass so mad at each other that they cannot say more than a few words to each other if they do at all. And this happens on all fronts. How quickly we forget! Did you forget how much that sin hurts? Did you forget how much it hurt our Lord when you sinned? Did you forget that you asked for forgiveness? Why aren't we mindful? We are we forgetful, and just like to go on about our business as if no big deal? As if what I say is no big deal as the boss, or the father at home? Why do my desires go unobserved?
You know well why I say this.
Our Lord notices we do not "listen" to Him either.
Then, for our own sake, it would be good to be loving and forgiving, because "love covers a multitude of sins". Love makes up for a whole awful lot.
This is the very LEAST we could do in the name of God, in the name of Love!
Our Lord wishes cities would repent, even until today. He wishes nations would repent. Why? For our own good, that's why.
In the end, His desires are for our own good! He already is fully whole and good, but because He is Love, He desires our own Good, even at His cost.
I'm thinking of the blood of Jesus....
May we pour ourselves out in His Name....
May we honor Him by obeying Him. May we honor Him in the remembrance of Him. The Mass is this exact act of memory. Forever.
Thanksgiving. |  audio | Random Bible Verse 1
Romans 8:32 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
