Quote: "In this life no one can fulfill his longing, nor can any creature satisfy man's desire. Only God satisfies, he infinitely exceeds all other pleasures. That is why man can rest in nothing but God." -St. Thomas Aquinas Today's Meditation "[Saint] Thomas's greatest teacher of all, however, was Jesus Christ, the God-Man and the "most excellent of teachers," who taught not through writings but in 'that manner of teaching whereby His doctrine is imprinted on the hearts of His hearers' and 'as one having power' through the words and deeds of His life. Thomas not only devoured the teaching of his human mentors but also digested, altered, corrected, and improved them at times, making the truths that they discovered his own through a life-time of thought and experience. It was his lifelong zeal as a student, along with the grace of God, that rewarded Thomas with the knowledge and wisdom that equipped him so well to teach others." - Kevin Vost, Chapter 1 Daily Verse "Finally, draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens." -Ephesians 6:10-12 |  EWTN Daily Saint | | St Thomas Aquinas St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) was born into a wealthy and noble family in Aquino, Italy. He was the pious and brilliant son of a count, and a lucrative future was planned for him. When Thomas set off to enter the newly founded Dominican order to be a poor mendicant friar, his mother held him prisoner in the family castle in order to dissuade him. His brothers tried to destroy his purity, and thus his vocation, by tempting him with a prostitute. However Thomas resisted and turned to God for help; as a result, angels were sent to guard and preserve his chastity. This long ordeal only strengthened his vocation, and eventually he escaped and joined the Dominicans. He was ordained to the priesthood and went on to become a famed professor and prolific writer. His works remain immensely influential in philosophy and theology, the most famous being his Summa Theologica, and multiple popes have upheld him as the model of a systematic Catholic education. St. Thomas Aquinas is the foremost Doctor of the Catholic Church, known as the "Angelic Doctor" for his purity of mind and body, and remarkable intelligence. St. Thomas Aquinas is the patron of schools and universities, students, philosophers, theologians, apologists, academics, and chastity. His feast day is January 28. | Memorial of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church Lectionary: 319 Reading 1 2 Samuel 7:4-17 That night the LORD spoke to Nathan and said:
"Go, tell my servant David, 'Thus says the LORD:
Should you build me a house to dwell in?
I have not dwelt in a house
from the day on which I led the children of Israel
out of Egypt to the present,
but I have been going about in a tent under cloth.
In all my wanderings everywhere among the children of Israel,
did I ever utter a word to any one of the judges
whom I charged to tend my people Israel, to ask:
Why have you not built me a house of cedar?' "Now then, speak thus to my servant David,
'The LORD of hosts has this to say:
It was I who took you from the pasture
and from the care of the flock
to be commander of my people Israel.
I have been with you wherever you went,
and I have destroyed all your enemies before you.
And I will make you famous like the great ones of the earth.
I will fix a place for my people Israel;
I will plant them so that they may dwell in their place
without further disturbance.
Neither shall the wicked continue to afflict them as they did of old,
since the time I first appointed judges over my people Israel.
I will give you rest from all your enemies.
The LORD also reveals to you that he will establish a house for you.
And when your time comes and you rest with your ancestors,
I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins,
and I will make his Kingdom firm.
It is he who shall build a house for my name.
And I will make his royal throne firm forever.
I will be a father to him,
and he shall be a son to me.
And if he does wrong,
I will correct him with the rod of men
and with human chastisements;
but I will not withdraw my favor from him
as I withdrew it from your predecessor Saul,
whom I removed from my presence.
Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me;
your throne shall stand firm forever.'" Nathan reported all these words and this entire vision to David. Responsorial Psalm Psalm 89:4-5, 27-28, 29-30 R. (29a) For ever I will maintain my love for my servant.
"I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have sworn to David my servant:
I will make your dynasty stand forever
and establish your throne through all ages."
R. For ever I will maintain my love for my servant.
"He shall cry to me, 'You are my father,
my God, the Rock that brings me victory!'
I myself make him firstborn,
Most High over the kings of the earth."
R. For ever I will maintain my love for my servant.
"Forever I will maintain my love for him;
my covenant with him stands firm.
I will establish his dynasty forever,
his throne as the days of the heavens."
R. For ever I will maintain my love for my servant. Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower;
all who come to him will live forever.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mark 4:1-20 On another occasion, Jesus began to teach by the sea.
A very large crowd gathered around him
so that he got into a boat on the sea and sat down.
And the whole crowd was beside the sea on land.
And he taught them at length in parables,
and in the course of his instruction he said to them,
"Hear this! A sower went out to sow.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path,
and the birds came and ate it up.
Other seed fell on rocky ground where it had little soil.
It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep.
And when the sun rose, it was scorched and it withered for lack of roots.
Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it
and it produced no grain.
And some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit.
It came up and grew and yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."
He added, "Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear." And when he was alone,
those present along with the Twelve
questioned him about the parables.
He answered them,
"The mystery of the Kingdom of God has been granted to you.
But to those outside everything comes in parables, so that
they may look and see but not perceive,
and hear and listen but not understand,
in order that they may not be converted and be forgiven." Jesus said to them, "Do you not understand this parable?
Then how will you understand any of the parables?
The sower sows the word.
These are the ones on the path where the word is sown.
As soon as they hear, Satan comes at once
and takes away the word sown in them.
And these are the ones sown on rocky ground who,
when they hear the word, receive it at once with joy.
But they have no roots; they last only for a time.
Then when tribulation or persecution comes because of the word,
they quickly fall away.
Those sown among thorns are another sort.
They are the people who hear the word,
but worldly anxiety, the lure of riches,
and the craving for other things intrude and choke the word,
and it bears no fruit.
But those sown on rich soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it
and bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold." | Praise to You Oh Lord Jesus Christ! | Daily Meditation: 2 Samuel 7:4-17 Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me. (2 Samuel 7:17) Question: What do you give to the God who has everything? Answer: Your all! But what does giving God our "all" look like? Maybe David, the great shepherd, poet, warrior, and king, can tell us. In one sense, he truly did give God his all. He never held back when he had the opportunity to demonstrate his radical faith in the Lord. With just one river stone, he slew Goliath, the Philistine who had been terrorizing all of Israel's soldiers. He danced exuberantly—and nearly naked—when he brought the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem. And he vanquished every one of Israel's foes on the battlefield so that he could win a season of peace and plenty for the people of God. Today, we see God answering yet another one of David's grand gestures: his desire to build a temple for the Lord. But notice what God says to the king: "You are not going to build a house for me; I will build a house for you! And that house will 'endure forever before me'"(2 Samuel 7:17). David must have felt a little surprised—and maybe a little disappointed—at this message. Did he do something wrong? Didn't God want him to give his all to the Lord and his people? Was God rejecting him? Not at all! In his words to David, God makes it clear how much he loves him. But he also makes it clear that David had lost sight of one central truth: living for the Lord is not all about what you're going to do for him. David didn't have to keep proving himself to God, and he certainly didn't have to keep producing something grand in order for God to keep loving him. Yes, God wants every one of us to give him our all, and sometimes that calls for great sacrifices and grand gestures. But sometimes it means stepping back and letting him do the work that we cannot do. Sometimes it means just giving him some of our time in silent adoration or quietly sitting in his presence. As David ultimately learned, God wants our hearts, regardless of how much we accomplish for him. That's the "all" he truly treasures. "Lord, teach me how to give you my all, even when I am 'doing' nothing for you." Psalm 89:4-5, 27-30
Mark 4:1-20 | Reflections with Brother Adrian: |  Audio of 2 Cents | From today's Holy Gospel: "... Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it
and it produced no grain.
And some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit.
It came up and grew and yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."
He added, "Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear." And when he was alone,
those present along with the Twelve
questioned him about the parables.
He answered them,
"The mystery of the Kingdom of God has been granted to you.
But to those outside everything comes in parables, so that
they may look and see but not perceive,
and hear and listen but not understand,
in order that they may not be converted and be forgiven." ...." Word of the Lord. | From Roberto Juarez last part of reflection:
"This parable invites us to ask ourselves: what kind of terrain am I today? It is not a question of labeling ourselves, because throughout life we can go through all these terrains. There are moments of hardness, superficiality, suffocation, and also moments of openness and fruitfulness. The good news is that the terrain can change. The heart can be worked, removed, cleansed. Faithful listening to the Word, prayer, the sacraments, community life help us to become good soil. Jesus is not discouraged by apparent failures. Keep planting. Trust in the strength of the seed and in the capacity of the land to transform. This fills us with hope: God does not tire of us. Let us ask the Lord to grant us a heart that is available, patient and persevering. May his Word not pass by, not dry up, not drown, but find in us a good soil where it can bear fruit for the good of others." end quote.
The seeds of our Lord. What is the seed He desires to be spread all over the world? It is the Gospel, the Good news, The Very Word of The LORD, our God Almighty!
Amen?
That seed that can move mountains! That seed that can ask a tree to uproot itself and be thrown into the sea, that seed that can make faith grow, love grow, and miracles grow, right there in your little spot of the world.
That seed is so precious. Because, the Word became Flesh. The seed becomes flesh. The love of God becomes flesh, made real, right there in your world, the very world God created for you, to be with you, to live with you, to love you, to show you all the time, the seed, the very light, that small light that grows in the darkness of the world.
I ask you, that you take that seed, that faith, and nurture it. It is the very love of GOD our Father, in Heaven! |  Click for Audio | Random Bible Verse 1
Proverbs 23:22 " Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old."
. . . . . . . . Word of the Lord! | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
