November 21st is the feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. According to tradition, the Blessed Virgin Mary was consecrated to God as a young child; when she reached three years of age her holy parents, St. Anne and St. Joachim, presented her before God in the Jerusalem temple where she was to be educated and raised. This dedication was a result of a promise St. Anne made to God while she suffered from many years of infertility. The liturgical celebration honoring this event appeared in the East much earlier then it did in the West. In the late Middle Ages it was promoted as a feast day for the universal Church.
† Quote "I ask you to consider that our Lord Jesus Christ is your true head and that you are a member of his body. He belongs to you as the head belongs to the body. All that is his is yours: breath, heart, body, soul and all his faculties. All of these you must use as if they belonged to you, so that in serving him you may give him praise, love and glory." -St. John Eudes Today's Meditation "Since Jesus has gone to Heaven now, I can only follow the traces He has left behind. But how bright these traces are! How fragrant and divine! I have only to glance at the Gospels; at once this fragrance from the life of Jesus reaches me, and I know which way to run: to the lowest, not the highest place!" —St. Therese of Lisieux, p.b153-154
An excerpt from The Story of a Soul Daily Verse "For whatever was written previously was written for our instruction, that by endurance and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope." -Romans 15:4 | Bl Maria Franciszka Siedliska Bl. Maria Franciszka Siedliska (1842-1902) was born to a noble and wealthy family in Warsaw, Poland. When a Capuchin friar prepared her for her First Holy Communion, she began to desire the religious life and made a private act of consecration to God. Her father was greatly opposed and said he would rather see her dead than lost to the cloister. Her vocation was not deterred, and she went to Rome to obtain the Pope's blessing for founding an active apostolic Order modeled on the hidden virtues of the Holy Family. The Congregation of Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth was formed in 1875, and she took the name Mary of Jesus the Good Shepherd. In 1885 the Nazareth Sisters arrived in New York, eventually settling near Chicago where they made their first foundation in the U.S.A. She was beatified by Pope St. John Paul II in 1989. Her feast day is November 21. | Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary • Readings for the Memorial of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary Reading I 1 Maccabees 4:36-37, 52-59 Judas and his brothers said,
"Now that our enemies have been crushed,
let us go up to purify the sanctuary and rededicate it."
So the whole army assembled, and went up to Mount Zion.
Early in the morning on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month,
that is, the month of Chislev,
in the year one hundred and forty-eight,
they arose and offered sacrifice according to the law
on the new altar of burnt offerings that they had made.
On the anniversary of the day on which the Gentiles had defiled it,
on that very day it was reconsecrated
with songs, harps, flutes, and cymbals.
All the people prostrated themselves and adored and praised Heaven,
who had given them success.
For eight days they celebrated the dedication of the altar
and joyfully offered burnt offerings and sacrifices
of deliverance and praise.
They ornamented the facade of the temple with gold crowns and shields;
they repaired the gates and the priests' chambers
and furnished them with doors.
There was great joy among the people
now that the disgrace of the Gentiles was removed.
Then Judas and his brothers and the entire congregation of Israel
decreed that the days of the dedication of the altar
should be observed with joy and gladness
on the anniversary every year for eight days,
from the twenty-fifth day of the month Chislev. Responsorial Psalm 1 Chronicles 29:10bcd, 11abc, 11d-12a, 12bcd R. (13b) We praise your glorious name, O mighty God.
"Blessed may you be, O LORD, God of Israel our father, from eternity to eternity." R. We praise your glorious name, O mighty God.
"Yours, O LORD, are grandeur and power, majesty, splendor, and glory.
For all in heaven and on earth is yours." R. We praise your glorious name, O mighty God.
"Yours, O LORD, is the sovereignty; you are exalted as head over all.
Riches and honor are from you." R. We praise your glorious name, O mighty God.
"You have dominion over all,
In your hand are power and might; it is yours to give grandeur and strength to all." R. We praise your glorious name, O mighty God. Alleluia John 10:27 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord;
I know them, and they follow me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Luke 19:45-48 Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out
those who were selling things, saying to them, "It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves."
And every day he was teaching in the temple area.
The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people, meanwhile,
were seeking to put him to death,
but they could find no way to accomplish their purpose
because all the people were hanging on his words.
| Praise to You Oh Lord Jesus Christ! | Daily Meditation: Luke 19:45-48 My house shall be a house of prayer. (Luke 19:46) As Jesus' ministry comes to a close, he is drawn to the Temple, that sacred place where the unseen God dwells with his people. But as Jesus stands in the "temple area" (Luke 19:45)—those outer courts where the buying and selling take place—he sees that all the activity is disrupting the meeting of God with his people. It's so crowded that people can't even get to the place of prayer. And so he drives out all the merchants and money changers. This startling prophetic action points to what Jesus is about to accomplish through his cross. He is removing everything that has kept his Father's house from being a house of prayer, a place where people could encounter the living God. Then he spends every day afterward teaching the people, as if he has laid claim to the Temple himself (Luke 19:47). This is exactly what he would do through his death and resurrection, only for all people for all time. He would cleanse us from sin and pour his Spirit into our hearts so that each of us could become a dwelling place for the Lord. When we were baptized, Jesus' prophetic actions in the Temple became a living reality in our lives. But in the course of our day-to-day life, all kinds of things can creep into the sanctuary of our hearts. To-do lists can distract us from worship. Material possessions can seem more attractive than the love Jesus offers. The "noise" of our own fears and longings and anxieties and plans can drown out the still, small voice of the Lord. And so, like the Temple of old, we need Jesus to come and clear out our hearts. So invite Jesus to turn over some tables in you so that you are freer to worship God. Don't be surprised if he shakes things up a little more than you expect. He might invite you to renounce some distractions and obstacles that you have become attached to. Ask him for the grace to surrender them to him. Let him cleanse you through sacramental Confession. Let him make your heart his abode, a place of prayer, worship, and communion with God. "Jesus, come and cleanse the temple of my heart! Fill me with prayer and praise in your presence!" 1 Maccabees 4:36-37, 52-59
(Psalm) 1 Chronicles 29:10-12 | Reflections with Brother Adrian: | From today's Holy Gospel: "... Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out
those who were selling things, saying to them, "It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves."
And every day he was teaching in the temple area.
The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people, meanwhile,
were seeking to put him to death,
but they could find no way to accomplish their purpose
because all the people were hanging on his words....." Word of the Lord. | Roberto Juarez said: "In the Christian life it is not enough to avoid evil. We must fill our hearts with good, we must listen to the Word, nourish our faith, take care of prayer, involve our hearts in the celebration of the Eucharist. If the heart is not filled with things of God, it will quickly be occupied by something else: worry, haste, routine, modern idols.
Jesus does not cleanse to leave emptiness. Jesus cleanses to dwell. To talk. To teach. To transform. To build new life.
The gospel adds something else: "The chief priests and the scribes tried to destroy him, because all the people were attentive to his words." While the simple people listen and open up, the religious leaders resist. Why? Because what Jesus does questions his way of life, his interests, his way of exercising power.
This reminds us of something very important: every time Jesus wants to purify our hearts, an internal resistance appears.
We all have within us a "scribe" or a "high priest" who tells us, "Do not change." "No need to check anything." "Don't give so much." "Stay as you are." "Don't listen too much to the Lord, who is going to ask you."
That is why we must ask the Spirit for a humble, open, docile heart. A heart that accepts that Jesus purifies, reorganizes, and renews.
Finally, this passage asks us: Our parish, our community, our families... are they houses of prayer? A parish becomes a house of prayer when the Eucharist is celebrated with faith and devotion, silence is kept, the Word is heard, time is offered for adoration, fraternal service is lived, those who arrive are welcomed, those who suffer are accompanied, God's presence is breathed.
And our house becomes a "temple" when there is a visible crucifix, there is a place to pray, there is respect, forgiveness and dialogue, there are gestures of charity, God is not an occasional guest, but a member of the family.
If we want the world to change, let's start here by turning our homes and our hearts into places where God can come in, stay, and teach.
Jesus shows himself today as the Lord of the temple, the one who purifies, the one who orders, the one who restores God to his place, the one who teaches every day.
May we open our hearts so that He may enter, so that He may cleanse what hinders, so that He may expel what keeps us from prayer, so that He may renew our lives from within.
May we hear him say to us, "Your heart is made to be a house of prayer. Let me dwell in it." - end quote.
Today, we celebrate a feast called "the Presentation of the Virgin Mary". The first Holy Scripture begins with: ""Now that our enemies have been crushed, let us go up to purify the sanctuary and rededicate it."
So the whole army assembled, and went up to Mount Zion." And they brought a joyful celebration, and decreed that it should be done every year and celebrate 8 days.
How does this connect with the Gospel in which our Lord enters the temple to drive out all that does not belong?
Our Lord entered the temple of Mary. Through her, He enters into the temple of God in the world. The Temple from the onset is to bring holiness to the world, something direly lacking.
Our Lord today, has entered our world, in the Sacraments, in Baptism and so forth. The purpose? To set the world on fire with His blazing righteousness that shines what we can see as holiness. Things get real deep, real fast. And it is right...shooting straight to our own temple, where God desires to reside and do His Holy will.
May we always pray and seek to do His Holy will, and we know this will be accomplished when our lives open up to Him and align the entrance of the Majesty of our King...Jesus! |  Click for Audio | Random Bible Verse 1 2 Corinthians 4:16
"So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self1 is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day." . . . . . . . . Word of the Lord! | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
