 From: MorningOffering Website | † Quote of the Day "Be a Catholic: When you kneel before an altar, do it in such a way that others may be able to recognize that you know before whom you kneel." -St. Maximilian Kolbe Today's Meditation "If favored souls are sometimes sensibly conscious of the presence of the Blessed Sacrament in our churches, how much more must holy Joseph, whose spiritual senses were so delicate and refined, have felt his heart burn within him with divine charity, from the nearness of Him who now dwelt in Mary as His living tabernacle!" —Edward Healy Thompson, p. 168
An excerpt from The Life & Glories of Saint Joseph Daily Verse Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways!...For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. -Romans 11:33 |  EWTN Daily Saint | | St Benjamin St. Benjamin (d. 424 A.D.) was a deacon martyred in Persia during a forty-year-long Christian persecution under two tyrannical Persian kings. He was imprisoned for a year due to his Christian faith and then released with the help of the Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II. As a condition of his release he was ordered to no longer publicly proclaim his faith. Benjamin declared that it was his duty to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and he refused to be silenced. He continued preaching Christ crucified, and, when word reached the king, he was arrested again. In response, Benjamin asked the king what opinion he would have of any of his subjects if they were to renounce their allegiance to the king and join in war against him; in the same way Benjamin could not renounce his allegiance to Christ. This comment enraged the king, and he ordered Benjamin to endure cruel tortures. Sharpened reeds were repeatedly jammed underneath his fingernails, toenails, and other tender parts of the body. He died when a knotted stake was jammed into his bowels. St. Benjamin's feast day is celebrated on March 31st. | Tuesday of Holy Week Lectionary: 258 Reading 1 Isaiah 49:1-6 Hear me, O islands,
listen, O distant peoples.
The LORD called me from birth,
from my mother's womb he gave me my name.
He made of me a sharp-edged sword
and concealed me in the shadow of his arm.
He made me a polished arrow,
in his quiver he hid me.
You are my servant, he said to me,
Israel, through whom I show my glory. Though I thought I had toiled in vain,
and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength,
Yet my reward is with the LORD,
my recompense is with my God.
For now the LORD has spoken
who formed me as his servant from the womb,
That Jacob may be brought back to him
and Israel gathered to him;
And I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD,
and my God is now my strength!
It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and restore the survivors of Israel;
I will make you a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth. Responsorial Psalm Psalm 71:1-2, 3-4a, 5ab-6ab, 15 and 17 R. (see 15ab) I will sing of your salvation.
In you, O LORD, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
In your justice rescue me, and deliver me;
incline your ear to me, and save me.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
Be my rock of refuge,
a stronghold to give me safety,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
O my God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
For you are my hope, O Lord;
my trust, O God, from my youth.
On you I depend from birth;
from my mother's womb you are my strength.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
My mouth shall declare your justice,
day by day your salvation.
O God, you have taught me from my youth,
and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.
R. I will sing of your salvation. Verse Before the Gospel
Hail to you, our King, obedient to the Father;
you were led to your crucifixion like a gentle lamb to the slaughter. Gospel John 13:21-33, 36-38 Reclining at table with his disciples, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified,
"Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me."
The disciples looked at one another, at a loss as to whom he meant.
One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved,
was reclining at Jesus' side.
So Simon Peter nodded to him to find out whom he meant.
He leaned back against Jesus' chest and said to him,
"Master, who is it?"
Jesus answered,
"It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it."
So he dipped the morsel and took it and handed it to Judas,
son of Simon the Iscariot.
After Judas took the morsel, Satan entered him.
So Jesus said to him, "What you are going to do, do quickly."
Now none of those reclining at table realized why he said this to him.
Some thought that since Judas kept the money bag, Jesus had told him,
"Buy what we need for the feast,"
or to give something to the poor.
So Judas took the morsel and left at once. And it was night. When he had left, Jesus said,
"Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.
If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself,
and he will glorify him at once.
My children, I will be with you only a little while longer.
You will look for me, and as I told the Jews,
'Where I go you cannot come,' so now I say it to you." Simon Peter said to him, "Master, where are you going?"
Jesus answered him,
"Where I am going, you cannot follow me now,
though you will follow later."
Peter said to him,
"Master, why can I not follow you now?
I will lay down my life for you."
Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for me?
Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow
before you deny me three times." | Praise to You Oh Lord Jesus Christ! |  From Word Among Us WAU.org | Daily Meditation: Isaiah 49:1-6 He made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me. (Isaiah 49:2) Holy Week is a dramatic reminder that God's plans
are frequently accomplished in unexpected ways—and often without
fanfare. God chooses Israel from among more powerful peoples, he picks
prophets and heroes from obscurity, and he enters the world as a poor
helpless child. This week, in a story filled with plot twists and surprises, we
recall in a special way how the Lord triumphed over the powers of sin
and death. The Master washes his servants' feet. The One who came to set us free is held captive. The King is mocked with a crown of thorns.
Cruelty is met with forgiveness. And death is swallowed up by life. In all of these seeming contradictions, we see God's plan coming to
fulfillment through the "secret weapon" of the cross. Jesus is the
ultimate "polished arrow" who remained hidden in his Father's "quiver"
until just the right time (Isaiah 49:2). Holy Week is not about simply recounting events from long ago. God's
plan—his surprising, fanfare-free strategy of salvation—is still being
revealed today. What began centuries ago with the promise of a restored
Israel being "gathered" into one continues as all "the nations"
gradually come together to receive the free gift of salvation (Isaiah
49:5, 6). That massive gathering includes you. You are participating in the
same unexpected story as the Israelites. You, too, are like the
"polished arrow" in today's first reading. Your life is hidden in
Christ, and you stand as a sign that tells the world about the strength
of humility, lowliness, and surrender to the Lord. So make the way of humility—the surprising tactic of the mighty
God—your Way of the Cross this week. Open yourself to the Lord's mercy
in Confession. Make time for a friend or neighbor or coworker who needs
encouragement. Serve people in a way that mirrors Jesus' heart of
self-sacrificial love. Lean on him, your "secret weapon," to withstand
temptation. You can be confident that the Lord's grace and mercy are
constantly at work in you and around you, even in hidden and unexpected
ways. "Jesus, make me—like you—a polished arrow hidden by your side!" Psalm 71:1-6, 15, 17 John 13:21-33, 36-38 | Reflections with Brother Adrian: |  Audio of 2 Cents | From today's Holy Gospel: ".. Simon Peter said to him, "Master, where are you going?"
Jesus answered him,
"Where I am going, you cannot follow me now,
though you will follow later."
Peter said to him,
"Master, why can I not follow you now?
I will lay down my life for you."
Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for me?
Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow
before you deny me three times." ...." | From Roberto Juarez: "Judas and Peter fail. But there is a fundamental difference. Judas closes himself in his sin and despair. Peter, after falling, will weep and return to Jesus. That is the key. The problem is not falling. We are all fragile. The problem is what do we do after falling: do we walk away? Do we justify ourselves? Do we lock ourselves in? Or do we return to the Lord with humility? God's mercy is always open... but you have to let yourself be found.
In the midst of this climate of betrayal and weakness, there is one thing that does not change: Jesus continues to love. He knows what is going to happen. He knows who is going to hand him over, he knows who is going to deny him, he knows that everyone will abandon him... and even so, he stays, loves, gives himself. This is the heart of the Gospel. God doesn't love us because we're perfect. He loves us even knowing our falls.
On this Holy Tuesday, the Word invites us to make a sincere examination: Is there something in my life that is distancing me from God? Am I entering some inner "night"? Do I trust my strength too much, like Peter? Or am I shutting down, like Judas? But it is also an invitation to hope: We can always return. We can always start over. We can always allow ourselves to be looked at by Christ, who does not cease to love us.
Today we see our own fragility up close. We can be like Judas. We can be like Peter. But we are called to be like Peter after his fall, able to weep, to recognize, to return. Let us ask the Lord in this Holy Week for a humble heart, a sincere faith, and the grace never to distance ourselves definitively from Him. Even in our falls, may we always know how to return to the love that does not fail." end quote.
From Bishop Barron:
"St. Augustine was among the first to comment that the threefold statement of love was meant to counteract the threefold denial. Peter emerges as the archetype of the forgiven and commissioned Church, for after each of his reaffirmations, Peter hears the command to tend the sheep. Once we are brought back into friendship with Jesus, we are called to love those whom he loves. " end quote.
Peter said: "Simon Peter said to him, "Master, where are you going?..."Master, why can I not follow you now?
I will lay down my life for you."
Have you ever had someone say something like that and it wasn't true? Maybe an ex boyfriend or girlfriend or fiance or even a brother or sister! They sounded sincere...but they didn't do what they said. They let you down.
Such was Peter, a prime example of all of us.
Some waited last night for nearly 3 hours to confess at our Lenten Parish Penance services. I came at the end because I saw how long it would take at the beginning. I spoke with one parishioner and they brought up that by the next day, even the most righteous person will have sinned more than a handful of times, and I agreed, because the bible says so!
And so, I joined the line of sinners...to repent. I wanted to be last. The priests look tired, sitting there for 3 hours, one had to take a bathroom break, and the one I went to seemed like he wasn't for playing games...and it was good. I let him have it, the ugly truth...and the truth set me free. It was Jesus in that encounter.
As I am writing, a customer safety man called me, and since I know he is catholic, I brought up the need for penance, and that we need to repent, and he said "I repent every day!" And I said yes, that is good, but we need penance, a daily examination of conscience is necessary", to which he said "yes, but I need something for my unconsciousness, and that is the voice we hear in confession". To which I said "I am going to use that line!".
And there..in that one on one session...He speaks. My confessor reminded me the necessity to be a saint.
For the first time, it not only felt good to confess...but liberating.
And this is where demons try so hard for you to avoid seeing the Father, because there, souls are liberated from darkness.
Such is the case of the crucifixion. Darkness is overtaken...for the good.
And today's reflections remind us of the importance of repentance, which means persistence, like the unceasing widow in scripture.
The difference between a sinner and a saint is that when they both sin...the saint always gets back up.
We are going to hear about Judas again. His weakness that ultimately took his life.
But God wants us strong, like Him. To die to sin...for the love of God.
Such is the sign of the cross.
Such is the open heart pouring out for us from the cross.
Such is the promise of one who does not go back on his word.
Your Father in Heaven. Your Lord Jesus, most precious Sacred Heart. The very Holy Spirit that binds us forever. |  Click for Audio | Random Bible Verse 1
Proverbs 28:6 "Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways." | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
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