† Quote of the Day "Helping a person in need is good in itself. But the degree of goodness is hugely affected by the attitude with which it is done. If you show resentment because you are helping the person out of a reluctant sense of duty, then the person may receive your help but may feel awkward and embarrassed. This is because he will feel beholden to you. If, on the other hand, you help the person in a spirit of joy, then the help will be received joyfully. The person will feel neither demeaned nor humiliated by your help, but rather will feel glad to have caused you pleasure by receiving your help. And joy is the appropriate attitude with which to help others because acts of generosity are a source of blessing to the giver as well as the receiver." — St. John Chrysostom Today's Meditation "To the extent that we abandon our personality to Him, He will take possession of our will and work in us. We are no longer ruled by commands coming from the outside, as from a cruel master, but by almost imperceptible suggestions that rise up from within. We feel as if we had wanted all along to do those things He suggests to us; we are never conscious of being under command. Thus our service to Him becomes the highest form of liberty, for it is always easy to do something for the one we love." —Fulton J. Sheen, p. 182 An excerpt from Peace of Soul Daily Verse "For I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute. You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives." — Luke 21:15-19 | St Helen
St. Helen, also known as St. Helena (d. 327 A.D.), was a woman of humble means from Asia Minor. She married the future Roman Emperor Constantius Chlorus, and their son Constantine was born c. 272. Constantius divorced Helen in c. 293 to marry Emperor Maximian's daughter for the sake of political gain. When her son Constantine became the Roman Emperor, St. Helen was given the imperial title "Augusta" and was treated like royalty. After Constantine legalized Christianity across the Roman Empire, St. Helen, a Christian convert, went to the Holy Land in search of the actual cross on which Christ was crucified, despite being in her 80s. She questioned local Christians and Jews and learned that the cross was buried under the Temple of Venus. Helen had the temple demolished and excavated. There she discovered the Holy Sepulcher, three crosses, the board with Pilate's inscription, and the nails which pierced Jesus' Sacred Body. In order to determine which cross was the Lord's, the Bishop of Jerusalem touched them to a corpse, causing the man to come back to life. A second miraculous healing of a sick woman confirmed the discovery of the True Cross. Christians flocked to Jerusalem to venerate the Holy Cross. St. Helen then visited all the holy places of Jesus' life and built many churches over their locations, including Bethlehem, the Mount of Olives, and the Garden of Gethsemane. St. Helen is the patron of divorced people, empresses, difficult marriages, converts, and archeologists. Her feast day is August 18th. | Reading I Judges 2:11-19 The children of Israel offended the LORD by serving the Baals.
Abandoning the LORD, the God of their fathers,
who led them out of the land of Egypt,
they followed the other gods of the various nations around them,
and by their worship of these gods provoked the LORD.
Because they had thus abandoned him and served Baal and the Ashtaroth,
the anger of the LORD flared up against Israel,
and he delivered them over to plunderers who despoiled them.
He allowed them to fall into the power of their enemies round about
whom they were no longer able to withstand.
Whatever they undertook, the LORD turned into disaster for them,
as in his warning he had sworn he would do,
till they were in great distress.
Even when the LORD raised up judges to deliver them
from the power of their despoilers,
they did not listen to their judges,
but abandoned themselves to the worship of other gods.
They were quick to stray from the way their fathers had taken,
and did not follow their example of obedience
to the commandments of the LORD.
Whenever the LORD raised up judges for them, he would be with the judge
and save them from the power of their enemies
as long as the judge lived;
it was thus the LORD took pity on their distressful cries
of affliction under their oppressors.
But when the judge died,
they would relapse and do worse than their ancestors,
following other gods in service and worship,
relinquishing none of their evil practices or stubborn conduct. Responsorial Psalm Psalm 106:34-35, 36-37, 39-40, 43ab and 44 R. (4a) Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They did not exterminate the peoples, as the LORD had commanded them,
But mingled with the nations and learned their works. R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They served their idols, which became a snare for them.
They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons. R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They became defiled by their works, and wanton in their crimes.
And the LORD grew angry with his people, and abhorred his inheritance. R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
Many times did he rescue them, but they embittered him with their counsels.
Yet he had regard for their affliction when he heard their cry.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people. Alleluia Matthew 5:3 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are the poor in spirit;
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Matthew 19:16-22 A young man approached Jesus and said,
"Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?"
He answered him, "Why do you ask me about the good?
There is only One who is good.
If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments."
He asked him, "Which ones?"
And Jesus replied, "You shall not kill;
you shall not commit adultery;
you shall not steal;
you shall not bear false witness;
honor your father and your mother;
and you shall love your neighbor as yourself."
The young man said to him,
"All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?"
Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be perfect, go,
sell what you have and give to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, follow me."
When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad,
for he had many possessions.
| Praise to You Oh Lord Jesus Christ! | Daily Meditation: Luke 1:39-56 Blessed are you who believed. (Luke 1:45) Today we celebrate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. But what made Mary blessed? Was it just that she was conceived without original sin? No, there's more to Mary's blessedness than the way she was born! Elizabeth's words in today's Gospel point us to the answer: "Blessed are you who believed" (Luke 1:45, emphasis added)! Mary trusted that the God who had been faithful to his promises to Abraham, Moses, and David would be faithful to his promises to her. Then, as Jesus began preaching, she heard even more promises: rest for the weary (Matthew 11:28); a full life for those who come to him (John 10:10); spiritual power for those who wait on him (Acts 1:8). Mary believed in these promises, too, and that faith opened the floodgates of blessing to her—blessings that surely supported her as she watched her son endure a prolonged, harrowing death on a cross. Finally, all those promises found their ultimate fulfillment in her Assumption into the glory of heaven! We might think that now that she is in heaven, Mary is simply enjoying all the blessings God intended for her. But that is far from the truth! Enthroned as Mother of the Church and Mother to all who believe, Mary is constantly interceding for all of us, her children. She is praying that we will place our faith in the same promises she believed. She is praying that we will remember the faithfulness of God so that we will never feel lost or abandoned by him. She is praying that we will look to her and know that we can all share in the same glory as we learn to believe as she did. Today, imagine Mary standing before you, gently urging you to hold fast to God's promises. She is telling you that Jesus is worth believing, that he is steadfast in his love for you, and that he longs to bring you into his heavenly glory. Listen as she exclaims, "Blessed are you who believe!" "Holy Mary, Mother of God, help me to believe ever more deeply in your Son!" Revelation 11:19; 12:1-6, 10
Psalm 45:10-12, 16
1 Corinthians 15:20-27 | Reflections with Brother Adrian: |  Hear AI Read it for u | From today's Holy Gospel: "The young man said to him,
"All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?"
Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be perfect, go,
sell what you have and give to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, follow me."
When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad,
for he had many possessions...." Word of the Lord. | Roberto Juarez ended his reflection with:
"The young man walks away sad because he cannot part with his possessions. This reminds us that the choices we make in life have an impact on our happiness and inner peace. When we are unable to fully respond to Jesus' call, we experience a lack of peace and joy. Is there anything in our lives that causes us sadness because we know we are not responding as we should to God's invitation?
Jesus calls us to a life of total self-giving, where material goods are not an obstacle to our relationship with Him. Let us evaluate our priorities, seek perfection in following Jesus and to store up treasures in heaven, responding with generosity and love to the Lord's call." end quote.
Bishop Barron says:
"Friends, today's Gospel is the story of the rich young man. The rich young man has a deep desire to share in everlasting life. He is hungry for the infinite good of the Spirit. He knows what he wants, and he knows where to find it. Jesus is the infinite good that the soul wants. He is God's own self made flesh. If you want to live in friendship with God, there are certain things that you must cut out of your life. Friendship with God means a life of love; therefore, those things that egregiously violate love have to be eliminated. Jesus looks at him with love and says, "If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." God is nothing but love, straight through, and therefore the life of friendship with him, in the richest sense, is a life of total, self-forgetting love. But at this point the young man tragically balks. The spiritual life, at the highest pitch, is about giving your life away, and this is why his many possessions are a problem. " end quote.
This verse has scared many from following our Lord:
"When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad,
for he had many possessions".
One loved one told me he couldn't go to a Cursillo, because of this, that that he would probably have to give up everything for the Lord.
And, as much as I tried to convince him otherwise, he had almost gone, I had paid his way, he filled out the application, saved the date, but I waited at the gate, and he never showed up.
He was a prominent business man, growing and growing, and he was amassing many weapons, citing, his fear of the unknown, buying land in Mexico, just in case things go down in one place or the other. Securing his life. Fast forward about almost 8 years or so, today, the man is not doing well in that business, it is on a downward trend, and he has removed himself because his health has been on a downward trend as well. The Lord, our God says that "Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it" end quote Luke 17: 33. But it can be scary to give up your life, right?
What about in the little things if you can't sell all your property.
What about starting small, like, letting go of your favorite past time and recreation, to spend a little more time in the things of the Lord? What if you gave up chatting on the phone, and spent that time chatting with God in prayer?
What if you gave up that hobby, and find yourself slaving away in God's Kingdom instead?
What is it like to slave away for Him?
I am in many ministries, it is definitely hard work. But hard work becomes light work when you do it with love and For LOVE. God our Father is Love itself.
This should be our driving force, an external love, coming from our internal love. It is then a formidable love connection. That connection with Our Father, who art in Heaven.
And then, we will not be afraid anymore, to become free, and not possessed by our possessions.
Most people I know are not super attached to material things...except...their family or themselves. To pull them away for some ministry is like pulling teeth. Until...they taste God. Until, they develop a love of the Lord. Until, their hardened sinful shell, is softened by the grace and love of our Lord.
And that my friend takes work, prayer, fasting, and continuous efforts on our parts. God has left that work square on our shoulders. Yes, He provides, but He does not impose himself, only when He sees it deemed absolutely necessary, like Saint Paul, when he was a zealous Saul.
But even that instance was a man after God's will...seeking to make God happy, above all.
And in God's happiness, we find our eternal joy.
Therefore...be not afraid,
to go forth,
and makes disciples of all, baptizing them, in the
Father,
The Son,
and the Holy Spirit.
A trifecta, of a deepening love into God himself. |  audio | Random Bible Verse 1
Psalm 46:1–3 God Is Our Fortress
To the choirmaster. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth.1 A Song. " God is our refuge and strength, a very present2 help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth give way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah" Word of the Lord. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
