† Saint Quote:“Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.” -St. Francis de Sales Today’s Meditation"Motherhood is such an incredible mystery! And the Blessed Virgin Mary, the masterpiece of motherhood, experienced all of its blessings. After having been courted by God and swept off her feet in the divine romance, she becomes the Theotokos (the God-bearer) and the New Eve and mother of all the living. Never was there a mother so fruitful. Theologically, Mary is even the spiritual mother of Eve and the spiritual mother of the Old Testament prophets! Yes, even Adam and Eve call her mother." –Donald C. Clloway, MIC, p. 269
An excerpt from Under the Mantle
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EWTN Daily Saint
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St Bona Of PisaSt. Bona (1156 - 1207 A.D.) was born in Pisa, Italy. She experienced visions at a young age which led her into an ascetical life of penance and fasting. She dedicated herself to God at the early age of ten and became an Augustinian tertiary. At the age of fourteen she went on her first pilgrimage to Jerusalem where her father was fighting in the crusades. On her trip home she was captured and wounded by Muslim pirates and imprisoned, later being rescued by her fellow countrymen. She became fond of making pilgrimages and returned to the Holy Land many times. She also led a large pilgrimage group along the Way of St. James (Santiago de Compostela), a 1,000 mile journey. She had a great devotion to St. James, whom she had seen in a vision as a child. She was named an official guide of the ancient route by the Knights of St. James. St. Bona made the Way of St. James a total of nine times. On her tenth trip she had to return home due to illness, and died soon after. St. Bona of Pisa is the patron saint of travelers, couriers, tour guides, pilgrims, flight attendants, and the city of Pisa. Her feast day is May 29th.
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Friday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary TimeLectionary: 351 Reading 11 Peter 4:7-13 Beloved:
The end of all things is at hand.
Therefore be serious and sober-minded
so that you will be able to pray.
Above all, let your love for one another be intense,
because love covers a multitude of sins.
Be hospitable to one another without complaining.
As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another
as good stewards of God’s varied grace.
Whoever preaches, let it be with the words of God;
whoever serves, let it be with the strength that God supplies,
so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ,
to whom belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Beloved, do not be surprised that a trial by fire is occurring among you,
as if something strange were happening to you.
But rejoice to the extent that you share in the sufferings of Christ,
so that when his glory is revealed
you may also rejoice exultantly. Responsorial PsalmPsalm 96:10, 11-12, 13 R. (13b) The Lord comes to judge the earth.
Say among the nations: The LORD is king.
He has made the world firm, not to be moved;
he governs the peoples with equity.
R. The Lord comes to judge the earth.
Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and what fills it resound;
let the plains be joyful and all that is in them!
Then shall all the trees of the forest exult.
R. The Lord comes to judge the earth.
Before the LORD, for he comes;
for he comes to rule the earth.
He shall rule the world with justice
and the peoples with his constancy.
R. The Lord comes to judge the earth. AlleluiaSee John 15:16 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I chose you from the world,
to go and bear fruit that will last, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. GospelMark 11:11-26 Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple area.
He looked around at everything and, since it was already late,
went out to Bethany with the Twelve. The next day as they were leaving Bethany he was hungry.
Seeing from a distance a fig tree in leaf,
he went over to see if he could find anything on it.
When he reached it he found nothing but leaves;
it was not the time for figs.
And he said to it in reply, “May no one ever eat of your fruit again!”
And his disciples heard it. They came to Jerusalem,
and on entering the temple area
he began to drive out those selling and buying there.
He overturned the tables of the money changers
and the seats of those who were selling doves.
He did not permit anyone to carry anything through the temple area.
Then he taught them saying, “Is it not written: My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples?
But you have made it a den of thieves.” The chief priests and the scribes came to hear of it
and were seeking a way to put him to death,
yet they feared him
because the whole crowd was astonished at his teaching.
When evening came, they went out of the city. Early in the morning, as they were walking along,
they saw the fig tree withered to its roots.
Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look!
The fig tree that you cursed has withered.”
Jesus said to them in reply, “Have faith in God.
Amen, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain,
‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’
and does not doubt in his heart
but believes that what he says will happen,
it shall be done for him.
Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer,
believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours.
When you stand to pray,
forgive anyone against whom you have a grievance,
so that your heavenly Father may in turn
forgive you your transgressions.”
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Praise to You Oh Lord Jesus Christ!
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From Word Among Us WAU.org
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Daily Meditation: Mark 11:11-26He went over to see if he could find anything on it. (Mark 11:13) What’s with the fig tree? At this point in his Gospel, Mark is building up to the climax of his story: Jesus’ passion and death. But he interrupts that story with a fig tree—not once, but twice! Why would he do that? Take a look at where these two fig tree stories are: Mark uses them to bracket his account of Jesus cleansing the Temple (11:12-14, 20-25). He says that Jesus was heading for the Temple when he went up to the fig tree to look for fruit. Finding it barren, he cursed it and then entered the Temple, where he drove out the money changers who were corrupting it. Then the next morning, he passed by the fig tree again, and his disciples saw that it had withered. Many commentators believe that for Mark, this fig tree represents the Temple: Jesus found no spiritual fruit in the worship taking place in the Temple, and so he cursed it as well. These examples of Jesus’ anger can be frightening. But remember the message behind the image: left to our own devices, we cannot bear fruit for the Lord. It is as we read in the Book of Isaiah, “We have all withered like leaves, and our crimes carry us away like the wind” (64:5). But just as Jesus entered the Temple, God has entered our story to set things right. He didn’t abandon us; instead, he gave his life for us. So yes, Jesus cursed the fruitless fig tree, but he replaced it with another tree, the cross. And that tree, planted in our hearts, has the power to bear “fruit that will remain” (John 15:16). You are not a withered fruitless tree. Jesus came, and comes even today, not to curse us, but to save us and make us fruitful. By your Baptism you have his own divine life in you, and that life is capable of producing abundant, lasting fruit. No doubt you have already seen some of this fruit—perhaps in healed wounds, reconciled friendships, or growth in virtue. But Jesus is not done with you! He is always working to help you bear even more fruit. “Lord Jesus, come into my life more deeply today so that I can bear fruit for you.” 1 Peter 4:7-13
Psalm 96:10-13
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Reflections with Brother Adrian:
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Audio of 2 Cents
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From today's Holy Gospel: ".... Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look!
The fig tree that you cursed has withered.”
Jesus said to them in reply, “Have faith in God.
Amen, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain,
‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’
and does not doubt in his heart
but believes that what he says will happen,
it shall be done for him.
Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer,
believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours.
When you stand to pray,
forgive anyone against whom you have a grievance,
so that your heavenly Father may in turn
forgive you your transgressions.”..... ”
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Roberto Juarez said: "The temple is not just the building in Jerusalem. The New Testament reminds us that every believer is also a temple of God. Jesus' gesture therefore also challenges us personally. What needs to be expelled from within? Selfishness, pride, double life, indifference, spiritual routine, lack of love. Jesus does not destroy the temple. It purifies it to restore its meaning. God does not want to destroy our spiritual life, but to heal it and make it fruitful.
Today the Lord invites us to move from appearance to fruit, from routine to authenticity, from the empty temple to the praying heart, from external religiosity to living faith. Let us ask him to purify our lives, to heal our interiors and to make us a fruitful fig tree, capable of bearing fruit of love, forgiveness and fidelity. Because the Lord does not seek beautiful leaves. Seek fruits of eternal life."
Bishop Barron said:
"Friends, at the heart of today’s Gospel is the cleansing of the temple. Jesus entered the great temple in Jerusalem—which for a Jew of that time was everything—and began to “drive out those selling and buying there.” Precisely because the temple was supposed to be so holy, Jesus was flabbergasted at what had happened to it and how the trading of merchants had come to dominate. From the earliest days, Christian writers and spiritual teachers saw the temple as symbolic of the human person. In fact, didn’t St. Paul himself refer to the body as a temple of the Holy Spirit? Your very self is meant to be a temple where God’s Spirit dwells and where prayer, communion with God, is central. But what happens to us sinners? The money changers and the merchants enter in. What is supposed to be a place of prayer becomes a den of thieves. And so the Lord must do in us now what he did in the temple then: a little housecleaning. What shape is the temple of your soul in? Suppose that Jesus has made a whip of cords, knotted with the Ten Commandments. What would he clear out of you? "
Last night in our bible timeline study, someone said a phrase that stuck out to everyone as we studied Exodus. They said "God took the people out of Egypt, then we had to get Egypt out of the people". Something like that!
It is true. We get stuck in routine things that become habit and then habit becomes tradition and then this becomes the way of life. Many times...not the true intention of God's holy will! Amen?
This is the story of the people that become blind again.
And in today's Gospel, God sees the spiritual blindness that is not producing fruit...the true intention of the temple.
You worship the temple your hands made, and not the temple that God intended to make from the temple.
As if the temple were the romantic room for God and people. But people get stuck on the bedroom instead of the lover...using Him perhaps? Not truly doing what HE wanted perhaps? Things are revealed...like selfish gain. Things that we do not want to hear.
But God is a giver. And He wants us to do His will. To give through us. Even blood and sweat, whatever it takes...from the heart. Just like He did on the cross.
True Love. Not fake love. Death to all the fakes. Whipping to all the fakers. And it is happening in realms we do not see.
Yet, God is not pleasured by the death of a sinner. It hurts God. Until today. Therefore...His calling is deep. A deep yearning from the recesses of His heart. You think you love somebody? You do not love like He does. He desires a million times more, for the good of that soul!
WOW. We have an amazing Father. Demanding, yes...the good, the Love of God and His Holy Will in one another.
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Isaiah 32:17 " And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust1 forever."
Word of the Lord!
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