†Great love can change small things into great ones, and it is only love which lends value to our actions.
- St. Faustina Kowalska
- - - Today's Meditation“I desire trust from My creatures. Encourage souls to place great trust in My fathomless mercy. Let the weak, sinful soul have no fear to approach Me, for even if it had more sins than there are grains of sand in the world, all would be drowned in the unmeasurable depths of My mercy.” — Jesus to St. Faustina Kowalska, (1059)
Daily Verse †Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you who by the power of God are safeguarded through faith, to a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the final time. 1 Peter 1:3-5
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EWTN Daily Saint
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St. Maria Faustina KowalskaPatron Saint of: Divine Mercy and Poland
Feast Day: October 5 St. Maria Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938), baptized with the name Helena, was one of ten children born to a devout, peasant farming family in Poland. She grew up during the tough years leading up to and following the first World War, and received little formal education. She worked as a poor housekeeper before following her religious vocation at the age of 20, entering the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Krakow. There she was given simple, humble jobs which hid her deep interior life. St. Faustina was graced with mystical visions and revelations from Jesus, as well as her Guardian Angel and certain saints. Jesus gave her the mission to proclaim his infinite, powerful, loving mercy to the whole world, especially to hardened sinners and those facing the hour of their death. St. Faustina, as Jesus’ “secretary and apostle of Divine Mercy”, faithfully recorded these messages in great detail in a nearly 700-page diary. In it she promoted devotion to the Divine Mercy of Jesus Christ as instructed by Our Lord himself, now famous throughout the Church, and a great consolation for many souls who would otherwise fear to approach God because of their burden of sin. She died at the age of 33 from tuberculosis. Pope St. John Paul II made St. Faustina the first saint of the new millennium. Her feast day is October 5th.
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Monday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary TimeLectionary: 461 Reading 1Galatians 1:6-12 Brothers and sisters:
I am amazed that you are so quickly forsaking
the one who called you by the grace of Christ
for a different gospel (not that there is another).
But there are some who are disturbing you
and wish to pervert the Gospel of Christ.
But even if we or an angel from heaven
should preach to you a gospel
other than the one that we preached to you,
let that one be accursed!
As we have said before, and now I say again,
if anyone preaches to you a gospel
other than the one that you received,
let that one be accursed! Am I now currying favor with human beings or God?
Or am I seeking to please people?
If I were still trying to please people,
I would not be a slave of Christ. Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters,
that the Gospel preached by me is not of human origin.
For I did not receive it from a human being, nor was I taught it,
but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ. Responsorial PsalmPsalm 111:1b-2, 7-8, 9, 10c R. (5) The Lord will remember his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart
in the company and assembly of the just.
Great are the works of the LORD,
exquisite in all their delights.
R. The Lord will remember his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The works of his hands are faithful and just;
sure are all his precepts,
Reliable forever and ever,
wrought in truth and equity.
R. The Lord will remember his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He has sent deliverance to his people;
he has ratified his covenant forever;
holy and awesome is his name.
His praise endures forever.
R. The Lord will remember his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia. AlleluiaJohn 13:34 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I give you a new commandment:
love one another as I have loved you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. GospelLuke 10:25-37 There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said,
“Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law?
How do you read it?”
He said in reply,
“You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your being,
with all your strength,
and with all your mind,
and your neighbor as yourself.”
He replied to him, “You have answered correctly;
do this and you will live.” But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus,
“And who is my neighbor?”
Jesus replied,
“A man fell victim to robbers
as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.
They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.
A priest happened to be going down that road,
but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
Likewise a Levite came to the place,
and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him
was moved with compassion at the sight.
He approached the victim,
poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them.
Then he lifted him up on his own animal,
took him to an inn, and cared for him.
The next day he took out two silver coins
and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction,
‘Take care of him.
If you spend more than what I have given you,
I shall repay you on my way back.’
Which of these three, in your opinion,
was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?”
He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.”
Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
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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: Luke 10:25-37A Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion. (Luke 10:33) Imagine the condition of the man in the parable—beaten, bloodied, and motionless. It would have taken extreme optimism to believe this “half-dead” man could be saved. The priest and the Levite saw a corpse, but the Samaritan saw a neighbor and was “moved with compassion at the sight” (Luke 10:30, 33). What an excellent illustration of the way Jesus looks at us! All of humanity lay in the dirt of sin, stripped of dignity and barely alive. As God looked on us, his heart wrenched with love. Like the Samaritan approaching the victim, the Lord came close to us in the Incarnation. He poured the oil of forgiveness and the wine of grace over our wounds and brought us into the “inn” of the Church, where we could be nursed to health (Luke 10:34). Today, you are spiritually alive because God didn’t pass you by; he saw that you could be healed! Yet all around us, there are still many victims left in the ditch. They have been overpowered by dark forces like addiction, war, economic injustice—add to the list whatever “robbers” you can think of. They may appear “half-dead” until you try seeing them the way Jesus does: as wounded but not beyond help. As you look at them this way, as you see them as your neighbors, you will be “moved with compassion” and feel compelled to offer whatever mercy you can (Luke 10:33). Who might they be? The stressed-out colleague who needs someone to ask, “Can I take something off your plate today?” The family member whose heart has been hardened by loneliness and who is carrying hurt that a simple phone call could soothe. The outsider who is treated with suspicion or simply ignored, for whom a smile or an offer of help could restore a sense of dignity. In this parable, Jesus paints a picture of someone—a good Samaritan—whose priority is tending to the wounded. But it’s not just a touching story; it’s a challenge for you to “go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37). It all starts by asking the Lord to open your eyes so you can see hope and potential in a wounded, hurting world. “Lord, give me eyes of love and a heart moved with compassion.” Galatians 1:6-12
Psalm 111:1-2, 7-10
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Reflections with Brother Adrian:
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“You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your being,
with all your strength,
and with all your mind,
and your neighbor as yourself.”
He replied to him, “You have answered correctly;
do this and you will live.”
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From Roberto Juarez: "……Let us pray that our prayer does not end when we leave church, but that we continue in our way of working, of living together, of caring for creation and of serving others.
Jesus tells us today: "Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you". Let us accept these words with confidence. Let us give thanks for what we have received. Let us humbly ask for what we need. Let us persevere when we do not understand God's ways. And let us not forget that authentic prayer transforms our hearts and makes us more available to others. May Mary, a grateful and trusting woman, who knew how to recognize the wonders of God and proclaim his mercy in the Magnificat, teach us to live with a grateful heart and hands ready to share. Good Father, thank you for your gifts; hear our prayers, strengthen our hope and teach us to turn all that we receive from you into a blessing for others." end quote.
- - - From bro. Adrian: The other day at bible study, I was ending things with a summary on the microphone, and my wife asked if she could say something, and she said "let's not just put up what we've learned into our bags and forget about it, but keep these books out and apply them daily".
I find that to be true. I see it most often in the singe time people normally go listen to the Word, once a week for a few minutes…in HOLY MASS.
We go, we sit. And we can't wait to leave. Cars already revving up with remote start. Some have one hand on the door knobs. And long before that, the mind had already closed up, which means…a way to the heart…the heart is closed up.
And so, when I get up to speak at announcements yesterday, to ask for 30 volunteers missing for our family festival, I said "there almost three hundred people here, we need help in the vineyard" because the gospel touched on the vineyard parables.
About 10 people signed up. That is about three percent help. 3 out of a hundred. I would have hoped to get 20 out of a hundred, or even 10 percent. But only 3.
And so I spoke at the next Mass, by then, most hearts are clocked out, hearts closed. But I still went to announce that our church needed help. And I said "at the previous Mass, a youth told me they would love to help but they were not sure if they were going out of town" and I said "if you are deciding, choose the church! We need help!
So many of us put other things first. And that is the problem. GOD COMES FIRST.
What does that mean?
Today we hear about a beat up guy, bleeding on the streets, and a priest and a Levite rushed passed them and I am sure they had their reasons for rushing passed him.
But were the reasons any good….really?
They say in India, the traffic is super crazy, and if one has an accident, the flow of trafffic just drives around them trying to maintain the same rush until someone decides to stop or emergency comes.
Isn't that the story of our lives though?
We are all like that. We are too busy…for God.
We just read in the old Testament about the return from exile. And now people were allowed to rebuild the TEMPLE! But…they were not doing it. The kings even gave money, and they weren't even of the religion, but….people were not building, they were in no hurry at all, they were minding their own temples instead of God's temple.
People minding their own "businses", right?
But what about what our 12 year old Lord Jesus say when they finally found Him supposedly lost and found in the temple?
He said "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know I must be about my Father's business?". That is in some translations.
What is the fruit God wants? I asked the people in the nursing home the same yesterday as me and my kids were singing to them. One said "Love". Love is the fruit.
Then what is God's business? Obedience? Yes, sure, of course. But even more, the next level….love of God, that produces….love of neighbor. Now things get real. Right in your lap. Right in your heart.
Who is bleeding on the streets?
It is Jesus.
And not only once…but always…why? Because…His sacrifice is eternal, and He lives in the true believer that is being martyred.
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Random Bible Verse 1
Isaiah 40:26 "Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name; by the greatness of his might and because he is strong in power, not one is missing."
Word of the Lord!
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