My take on daily Scripture readings... in the ordinary sense of the Word!
We're the Moneychangers'I'm not doing anything wrong' is not good enough for Jesus.https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/were-the-moneychangers
Reflect, today, upon the serious temptation we all face of being indifferent to Christ. It's easy for us to have a little faith and to turn to God when it is to our advantage. But it is also very easy to remain indifferent to Christ when things in life seem to be going well. We easily fall into the trap of thinking we do not need to daily surrender to Him in the most complete way possible. Root out any indifference to Christ today and tell Him you want to serve Him and His holy will with your whole heart.https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/2020/11/18/jesus-wept-2/https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/2020/11/18/jesus-wept-2/
Responding to HimWhile this scenario is more dramatic than most of us would ever encounter, at some level and in some way, Jesus is calling you right now to follow Him without reservation.You may ask: What about my problems? My financial responsibilities? My family? How is it possible?This is my question to you: Do you choose your problems and challenges or do you choose Jesus? When we say “Yes” to the call of Jesus, we are like the Blessed Mother in her great assent: “Let it be done to me according to your word.” We don't understand, but know we don't have to understand. All we need is to be obedient.When we say “Yes” to Jesus, our world changes. We may expect our problems to disappear immediately. That usually doesn't happen, but our attitude toward them changes. We don't give them the power we had previously given them.https://catholicstand.com/answering-the-call/
Overheard in an Orchard, by Elizabeth Cheney (1859)Said the Robin to the Sparrow,“I should really like to knowWhy these anxious human beingsRush about and worry so!”Said the Sparrow to the Robin,“Friend, I think that it must beThat they have no heavenly FatherSuch as cares for you and me!” Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Matthew 6:26
The Blind man had “a strong voice,” but the people around “rebuke him to keep quiet, as if he didn't have the right to speak.”“They don't have compassion on him, but, rather, they are bothered by his cries,” the Pope said, asking: “How many times do we, when we see so many people in the street, needy people, sick and with nothing to eat, feel bothered?”
St. Jerome cautioned against judging others, stating that only Christ at the Day of Judgement holds the "winnowing fan". Jesus Christ himself said, "With what judgment you judge, you shall be judged: and with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again" (Matthew 7:2, Douay Rheims Challoner Bible). St. Alphonsus Liguori presented Christ as a merciful Father ready to pardon those who repent.
“God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.” - St. Augustine
"In our missionary activities we are asked to preach the Gospel to all: 'Instead of seeming to impose new obligations, [we] should appear as people who wish to share their joy, who point to a horizon of beauty and who invite others to a delicious banquet'" (Evangelii Gaudium, 14).
“Love does not reflect; it is unreasonable and knows no moderation.” + St. Peter Chrysologus, bishop (406-450 A.D.)
"The more deeply the cross penetrates, the better; the more deprived of consolation that your suffering is, the purer it will be; the more creatures oppose us, the more closely shall we be united to God." - St. Paul of the Cross
“Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections, but instead set about remedying them—every day begin the task anew.”St. Francis de Sales
Christians are encouraged to apply the spirit of the Socratic Method, if not the actual technique, to their own spiritual lives (1 John 4:1; 1 Corinthians 11:27–29). The biblical command to “examine yourselves” (2 Corinthians 13:5) parallels Socrates' quip that “the unexamined life is not worth living.” Other scriptural instances of a Socratic approach include Job 38:1–11 and Proverbs 18:17https://www.gotquestions.org/Socratic-Method.html
“The task of evangelizing all people constitutes the essential mission of the Church…. Evangelizing is in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity. She exists in order to evangelize.” Saint Pope Paul VI (EN 14). ► “The Mission of Christ the Redeemer, which is entrusted to the Church, is still very far from completion…. This mission is still only beginning … we must commit ourselves wholeheartedly to its service.” Saint Pope John Paul II Music track: Fantasy by PufinoSource: https://freetouse.com/musicVlog Music for Video (Free Download)
The greatest security we can have in this world that we are in the grace of God, does not consist in the feelings that we have of love to Him, but rather in an irrevocable abandonment of our whole being into His hands, and in a firm resolution never to consent to any sin great or small. --Saint Francis of SalesMusic track: Serenity by PufinoSource: https://freetouse.com/musicFree Music Without Copyright (Safe)
The church that is not jealously protected by mighty intercession and sacrificial labors will before long become the abode of every evil bird and the hiding place for unsuspected corruption. The creeping wilderness will soon take over that church that trusts in its own strength and forgets to watch and pray.Aiden Wilson Tozer
“The men and women in our technical age risk becoming victims of their own intellectual and technical achievements, ending up in spiritual barrenness and emptiness of heart.”Pope Bendict
The righteous person finds his delight…in the law of the LORD.
“The habitual sinner may be absolved as often as he seriously undertakes to employ the means necessary to overcome his habit, but he cannot be absolved if he refuses this undertaking,” St. John of the Cross.
“Our door is faith; if it is strong enough, the whole house is safe.” + St. Ambrose, bishop (340-397 A.D.)Credits:1. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/music/songs/it-is-well-with-my-soul?lang=eng2. Too Loved To Be Lost - Debora M. Coty
“Your imperfections do not shock me, for I see myself with so many.”St. TeresaAmazing Grace 2011 Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/
Daughter, when you go to confession, to this fountain of My mercy, the Blood and Waterwhich came forth from My Heart always flows down upon your soul and ennobles it. Everytime you go to confession, immerse yourself in My mercy, with great trust, so that I may pourthe bounty of My grace upon your soul. When you approach the confessional, know this, thatI Myself am waiting there for you. I am only hidden by the priest, but I Myself act in yoursoul. Here the misery of the soul meets the God of mercy. Tell souls that from this fount ofmercy souls draw graces solely with the vessel of trust. If their trust is great, there is no limitto My generosity. - St. Faustina (Divine Mercy in My Soul)
"Uncrowd my heart, O God, until silence speaks in your still, small voice; turn me from the hearing of words, and the making of words, and the confusion of much speaking, to listening, waiting, stillness, silence,": Pope Francis. Amazing Grace 2011 Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/
"The bread you store up belongs to the hungry; the cloak that lies in your chest belongs to the naked; the gold you have hidden in the ground belongs to the poor." - St. Gregory the GreatAmazing Grace 2011 Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/
"The service of God is not a burden, but an honor: so far from branding us with the mark of slavery, it wipes it away." — St. Peter Chrysologus
"I found the secret of suffering in peace – I don't say joy. To suffer in peace, it is enough to will all that Jesus wills
In a fast and rapid world, the challenge today would be to learn from our ancestors whose lives were unhurried, unfazed and more relaxed yet completely fulfulling
'...if we look at the works of mercy as a whole, we see that the object of mercy is human life itself and everything it embraces.' Pope Francis
“To participate in the Mass is to be at Calvary at the foot of the Cross.” – St. Teresa of Avila
Fasting is the greatest feast. Brady Solomon
“O Holy Spirit, descend plentifully into my heart.Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwellingand scatter there, Your cheerful beams.” St Augustine (354-430) Doctor of Grace
What is God inviting me to at an Ignatian Silent Retreat? Nourishment – Discernment – Clarity – Freedom
Be joyful and hopeful because thr Father delights in you
“Never let anything so fill you with sorrow as to make you forget the joy of Christ risen.” – SAINT MOTHER THERESA OF CALCUTTA
“Let us be careful shepherdswatching over Christ's flock.Let us preach the whole of God's plan,to the powerful and to the humble,to rich and to poor,to men of every rank and age,as far as God gives us the strength,in season and out of season.” St Boniface (672-754)Martyr, Confessor, Bishop
Kings and queens and bishops and popes sought St. Hildegard's counsel. But the Benedectine nun was perhaps most knowledgeable about admiring and appreciating every creature. Among her most inspirational words: “The Earth sustains humanity. It must not be injured; it must not be destroyed.” “Every creature is a glittering, glistening mirror of divinity.” “Creation is the song of God.” “Humankind is called to co-create, so that we might cultivate the earthly, and thereby create the heavenly.” https://laudatosimovement.org/news/10-saints-whose-care-for-creation-still-inspires-us-today/
Show respect foe other people's opinions Become genuinely interested in other people. Always begin in a friendly way. Always begin with praise and appreciation. Go out of your way to make others feel more important. - Dale Carnegie
What baggages will I be holding on to when He calls me HOME?!!!!
An evangelizer must never look like someone who has just come back from a funeral!!!!
THE CCC in one Year - My highlights: 68 - In love God has revealed himself and given himself to man. 74.God graciously arranged that the things he had once revealed for the salvation of all peoples should remain in their entirety, throughout the ages, and be transmitted to all generations. 85. The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church alone.
If you seek patience, you will find no better example than the cross. Great patience occurs in two ways: either when one patiently suffers much, or when one suffers things which one is able to avoid and yet does not avoid. Christ endured much on the cross, and did so patiently, because when he suffered he did not threaten; he was led like a sheep to the slaughter and he did not open his mouth. --St. Thomas Aquinas
“If someone who has worldly means sees a brother in need and refuses him compassion, how can the love of God remain in him?” 1 Jn. 3:17
“There is a state of resting in God; an absolute break from all intellectual activity, when one forms no plans, makes no decisions, and for the first time really ceased to act; when one simply hands over the future to God's will and ‘surrenders himself to Fate.'” – St. Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)
Learning to recognize the voice of God in your daily life is accomplished by building an interior habit of listening, recognizing, responding, listening some more, recognizing and responding, etc. The more you hear the voice of God, the more you will recognize His voice in the most subtle of ways, and the more you come to hear the subtleties of His voice, the more you will be able to follow. In the end, this is only accomplished by an ongoing habit of deep and sustaining prayer. Without that, it will be very difficult to recognize the voice of the Shepherd when you need Him the most. - Catholic Reflections
Let us fix our gaze of faith on the Crucifix, and we will find that he was not satisfied only with the possibility of suffering but wished truly to suffer every kind of pain in body and in spirit, because it is not the mere possibility of suffering but suffering itself that brings us merit.
The Church and the world have a great need of eucharistic worship. Jesus waits for us in this sacrament of love. Let us be generous with our time in going to meet Him in adoration and in contemplation that is full of faith and ready to make reparation for the great faults and crimes of the world. May our adoration never cease Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati “With all the strength of my soul I urge you young people to approach the Communion table as often as you can. Feed on this bread of angels whence you will draw all the energy you need to fight inner battles. Because true happiness, dear friends, does not consist in the pleasures of the world or in earthly things, but in peace of conscience, which we have only if we are pure in heart and mind.”
Being angry about the right things and in the right way is virtuous. But avoiding anger at all times may be a sign of weakness. St. Thomas Aquinas notes how it is a vice not get angry over things one should. He calls it "unreasonable patience." A failure to correct the wicked encourages them to persist in their evil deeds, since there are no reprimands for their wrong actions. It also causes confusion in the community over what is truly right and wrong, and thus may lead even good people to do evil.
Christians, in particular, realize that their responsibility within creation and their duty towards nature and the Creator are an essential part of their faith. (Pope John Paul II 1990 World Day of Peace Message, no. 15)
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