†Is it not a wonderful thing, that he that is the Lord and author of all liberty, would thus be bound with ropes and nailed hand and foot unto the Cross? ▪ St. John Fisher
Today's Meditation “You must first have peace in your own soul before you can make peace between other people. Peaceable people accomplish more good than learned people do. Those who are passionate often can turn good into evil and readily believe the worst. But those who are honest and peaceful turn all things to good and are suspicious of no one. … It is no test of virtue to be on good terms with easy-going people, for they are always well liked. And, of course, all of us want to live in peace and prefer those who agree with us. But the real test of virtue and deserving of praise is to live at peace with the perverse, or the aggressive and those who contradict us, for this needs a great grace. … in this mortal life, our peace consists in the humble bearing of suffering and contradictions, not in being free of them, for we cannot live in this world without adversity. Those who can best suffer will enjoy the most peace, for such persons are masters of themselves, lords of the world, with Christ for their friend, and heaven as their reward.”
— Thomas á Kempis, p.72-73
Daily Verse †In fact, all who want to live religiously in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But wicked people and charlatans will go from bad to worse, deceivers and deceived. But you, remain faithful to what you have learned and believed, because you know from whom you learned it, and that from infancy you have known [the] sacred scriptures, which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ▪ 2 Timothy 3:12-15
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EWTN Daily Saint
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St. John of CapistranoPatron Saint of: Judges, military chaplains, and jurists
Feast Day: October 23 St. John of Capistrano (1385-1456) was born in Capistrano, Italy. After the death of his father, his mother sent him to study law in Perugia where he rose to prominence. He achieved great success as a lawyer and was appointed governor of Perugia. He was an upright leader who refused bribes and corruption. While attempting to negotiate a peace treaty he was imprisoned, which gave him opportunity to assess the direction of his life and the state of his soul. After having a vision of St. Francis of Assisi, John left the world and entered religious life as a Franciscan friar. He was taught theology by St. Bernardine of Siena, and together the two worked to reform the Franciscan order. St. John traveled throughout Italy preaching for the salvation of souls, combating the heresies of his day, and winning many souls away from schism and heresy. Merchants would suspend their business as great crowds gathered to hear him preach in the public squares. He was also known as a healer, and many of the sick were brought to him to be cured. St. John was frequently used as an ambassador by the Holy See which allowed him to preach across the Holy Roman Empire, earning him the name “Apostle of Europe.” He also preached a crusade against the Muslim Turks for the emancipation of Hungary. He was present at the Battle of Belgrade and led the charge of the Christian army under a banner monogrammed with the Holy Name of Jesus, to which he had a great devotion, urging the crusaders to invoke the name of Jesus for success in battle. The victory of the Christian army was attributed to his efforts. St. John of Capistrano is the patron of judges, military chaplains, lawyers, and jurists. His feast day is October 23rd.
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Friday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary TimeLectionary: 477 Reading 1Ephesians 4:1-6 Brothers and sisters:
I, a prisoner for the Lord,
urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received,
with all humility and gentleness, with patience,
bearing with one another through love,
striving to preserve the unity of the spirit
through the bond of peace;
one Body and one Spirit,
as you were also called to the one hope of your call;
one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in all. Responsorial PsalmPsalm 24:1-2, 3-4ab, 5-6 R. (see 6) Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
The LORD’s are the earth and its fullness;
the world and those who dwell in it.
For he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD?
or who may stand in his holy place?
He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean,
who desires not what is vain.
R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
He shall receive a blessing from the LORD,
a reward from God his savior.
Such is the race that seeks for him,
that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.
R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face. AlleluiaSee Matthew 11:25 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth;
you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. GospelLuke 12:54-59 Jesus said to the crowds,
“When you see a cloud rising in the west
you say immediately that it is going to rain–and so it does;
and when you notice that the wind is blowing from the south
you say that it is going to be hot–and so it is.
You hypocrites!
You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky;
why do you not know how to interpret the present time? “Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?
If you are to go with your opponent before a magistrate,
make an effort to settle the matter on the way;
otherwise your opponent will turn you over to the judge,
and the judge hand you over to the constable,
and the constable throw you into prison.
I say to you, you will not be released
until you have paid the last penny.”
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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: Ephesians 4:1-6. . . striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:3) Yesterday we looked at Jesus’ words on division in our households. Today, St. Paul broadens the topic to talk about divisions within the body of Christ. The Church in his day faced serious tensions, quarrels, and conflicts, and we might notice something similar today. We see people who are different from us. We may notice cliques, resentments, and divisions among church members. So how can we work toward the unity that Jesus himself prayed for? In one short verse, St. Paul gives us two profound pieces of advice. First, we should strive “to preserve the unity of the spirit” (Ephesians 4:3). Our choices and behavior can serve to bring people closer together or do just the opposite. Our actions matter! But second, we should acknowledge that there is already a “bond of peace” among us (4:3). Jesus’ sacrifice has already united us. We can pursue unity as we embrace “humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love” (Ephesians 4:2). On the practical level, that might involve rejecting the urge to condemn someone who hurts us and showing gentleness or patience instead. It might mean humbly listening to someone we disagree with instead of trying to correct what we see as errors. Unity with our brothers and sisters in Christ isn’t an impossible dream. And neither is it something we create on our own. It’s a gift that we receive from God. Members of Christ’s body are already intimately united. We have one and the same “Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:6). Jesus has already broken down the biggest walls that divide us. Now, as we strive to preserve the unity Christ has already given us, we will be better able to make the daily choices that will deepen it and bring healing where divisions persist. Jesus may have given us unity, but it’s ours to guard, preserve, and protect. It is both a gift and a mission, something that is already present and something that we still need to work toward. “Jesus, thank you for your gift of unity. Help me work to preserve it!” Psalm 24:1-6
Luke 12:54-59
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Reflections with Brother Adrian:
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“Jesus said to his disciples:
“Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?
If you are to go with your opponent before a magistrate,
make an effort to settle the matter on the way;
otherwise your opponent will turn you over to the judge,
and the judge hand you over to the constable,
and the constable throw you into prison.
I say to you, you will not be released
until you have paid the last penny.”
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From Roberto Juarez end of his reflection: "Recognizing the signs of the times also requires forming our conscience. It is not enough to act according to what we want, what the majority does or what is most convenient at any given moment. We need to learn to look at situations from the Gospel and ask ourselves what is most just, truest and most consistent with Christ's love. To do this we need moments of silence and prayer. We need to listen to the Word of God, know the teachings of the Church and be willing to revise our opinions. A well-formed conscience is not one that always agrees with us, but one that sincerely seeks the good and accepts to be corrected. We must also learn to read the events around us. When we see people suffering from loneliness, poverty or exclusion, we can ask ourselves what responsibility we have towards them. When we discover divisions and confrontations, we are called to work for dialogue and peace. When we observe that human dignity is not respected, we cannot remain indifferent. Faith does not provide us with automatic answers to every problem, but it does offer us fundamental criteria for discernment: the dignity of every person, the search for truth, justice, mercy, and love of neighbor.
Let us ask the Lord for the wisdom to recognize his presence and the courage to respond to his calls. May Jesus grant us eyes capable of recognizing the signs of the times, a conscience enlightened by the Gospel and a heart ready to seek reconciliation. For the moment to respond to God's love is not an indefinite tomorrow: it is the today that he places in our hands." end quote.
Your Brother Adrian.
Is our Lord talking punishment? For not reconciling before seeing the judge?
Paying the last penny? In the Catholic tradition, the verse "you will not be released until you have paid the last penny" (Matthew 5:25–26, and parallel in Luke 12:59) is interpreted both as moral guidance for earthly reconciliation and as a scriptural allusion to Purgatory.
In our bible study last night, we spoke about parables, the Prodigal son and the merciful father, and the Good Samaritan. One person said that they saw a common theme there…mercy.
And I said to that, "and look at who is speaking these parables…Mercy Himself!". On the cross. Mercy. All the way to the cross, mercy. God's heart on the cross, nailed. A permanent message. A billboard. "THIS IS LOVE".
WOW! WOW!
I always tell people, even at our community family festival I blurted on the microphone "go to church, God is waiting for you with open arms!"
Every Catholic Church has a crucifix, which is a cross with the body on it…
And yet, that is to be our message, our life. A life with open arms..To God. Jesus is praising God with all His heart.. pouring out dripping out to the last drop, pure love, pure mercy, purity itself.
And that is what is expected of us in the Body of Christ, all baptized souls.
It is sad to see though, people not living this expectation. This is called sin. A lack. Something left to be desired.
And so, to reconcile before seeing the judge means…mercy.
We learned in class that we must take up the cross, the suffering, because there is two types of suffering, moral suffering and physical suffering. Jeff Cavins said in his video last night, that sometimes, people wish to have a broken limb than to have a broken heart. So true. The heart is where everything is at.
Back to the heart of Christ. Back to the love of God.
This Sunday, in the Gospels in Mass, you will hear our Lord saying to Love God with all our hearts, minds, and souls, and our neighbor.
A question in ANOTHER bible study I lead, we studied this scripture. And we were asked how can we increase our love of God in the mind, heart, and soul?
For my answer I said "fill the mind with God things and nothing else" and for the heart, I said "to fill the heart, you must emptying it with actions of love" and for the soul, "a total surrender in glory to God".
My family in Christ our Lord, time is ticking!
Life goes by fast. So much is at stake. The daily suffering continues, but it is only bad if we do not know what to do with it, so said Jeff in the video Adventure Timeline Study.
Heavens know what to do with it, but we do not.
We are to embrace the cross. Every Friday, we should give up something. I fast at least, and try not to eat meat on Fridays, every one of the year. Why? Fasting is more powerful than prayer. Giving, is just as powerful as prayer.
And we are heading back to heart…the mercy, the very love of God!
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WOW! WOW! Random Bible Verse 1
1 John 2:15–17 Do Not Love the World "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life1—is not from the Father but is from the world.
And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever."
Word of the Lord!
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God Bless You! Peace
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