Saturday - March 10, 2018
If you truly want to help the soul of your neighbor, you should approach God first with all your heart. Ask him simply to fill you with charity, the greatest of all virtues; with it you can accomplish what you desire.
-- Saint Vincent Ferrer
March 9, 2018
Friday of the Third Week of Lent
Lectionary: 241
Reading 1HOS 14:2-10
Thus says the LORD:
Return, O Israel, to the LORD, your God;
you have collapsed through your guilt.
Take with you words,
and return to the LORD;
Say to him, "Forgive all iniquity,
and receive what is good, that we may render
as offerings the bullocks from our stalls.
Assyria will not save us,
nor shall we have horses to mount;
We shall say no more, 'Our god,'
to the work of our hands;
for in you the orphan finds compassion."
I will heal their defection, says the LORD,
I will love them freely;
for my wrath is turned away from them.
I will be like the dew for Israel:
he shall blossom like the lily;
He shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar,
and put forth his shoots.
His splendor shall be like the olive tree
and his fragrance like the Lebanon cedar.
Again they shall dwell in his shade
and raise grain;
They shall blossom like the vine,
and his fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
Ephraim! What more has he to do with idols?
I have humbled him, but I will prosper him.
"I am like a verdant cypress tree"–
Because of me you bear fruit!
Let him who is wise understand these things;
let him who is prudent know them.
Straight are the paths of the LORD,
in them the just walk,
but sinners stumble in them.
Return, O Israel, to the LORD, your God;
you have collapsed through your guilt.
Take with you words,
and return to the LORD;
Say to him, "Forgive all iniquity,
and receive what is good, that we may render
as offerings the bullocks from our stalls.
Assyria will not save us,
nor shall we have horses to mount;
We shall say no more, 'Our god,'
to the work of our hands;
for in you the orphan finds compassion."
I will heal their defection, says the LORD,
I will love them freely;
for my wrath is turned away from them.
I will be like the dew for Israel:
he shall blossom like the lily;
He shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar,
and put forth his shoots.
His splendor shall be like the olive tree
and his fragrance like the Lebanon cedar.
Again they shall dwell in his shade
and raise grain;
They shall blossom like the vine,
and his fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
Ephraim! What more has he to do with idols?
I have humbled him, but I will prosper him.
"I am like a verdant cypress tree"–
Because of me you bear fruit!
Let him who is wise understand these things;
let him who is prudent know them.
Straight are the paths of the LORD,
in them the just walk,
but sinners stumble in them.
Responsorial PsalmPS 81:6C-8A, 8BC-9, 10-11AB, 14 AND 17
R. (see 11 and 9a) I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.
An unfamiliar speech I hear:
"I relieved his shoulder of the burden;
his hands were freed from the basket.
In distress you called, and I rescued you."
R. I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.
"Unseen, I answered you in thunder;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
Hear, my people, and I will admonish you;
O Israel, will you not hear me?"
R. I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.
"There shall be no strange god among you
nor shall you worship any alien god.
I, the LORD, am your God
who led you forth from the land of Egypt."
R. I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.
"If only my people would hear me,
and Israel walk in my ways,
I would feed them with the best of wheat,
and with honey from the rock I would fill them."
R. I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.
the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.
An unfamiliar speech I hear:
"I relieved his shoulder of the burden;
his hands were freed from the basket.
In distress you called, and I rescued you."
R. I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.
"Unseen, I answered you in thunder;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
Hear, my people, and I will admonish you;
O Israel, will you not hear me?"
R. I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.
"There shall be no strange god among you
nor shall you worship any alien god.
I, the LORD, am your God
who led you forth from the land of Egypt."
R. I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.
"If only my people would hear me,
and Israel walk in my ways,
I would feed them with the best of wheat,
and with honey from the rock I would fill them."
R. I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.
Verse Before The GospelMT 4:17
Repent, says the Lord;the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.
GospelMK 12:28-34
One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,
"Which is the first of all the commandments?"
Jesus replied, "The first is this:
Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these."
The scribe said to him, "Well said, teacher.
You are right in saying,
He is One and there is no other than he.
And to love him with all your heart,
with all your understanding,
with all your strength,
and to love your neighbor as yourself
is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."
And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,
he said to him,
"You are not far from the Kingdom of God."
And no one dared to ask him any more questions.
"Which is the first of all the commandments?"
Jesus replied, "The first is this:
Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these."
The scribe said to him, "Well said, teacher.
You are right in saying,
He is One and there is no other than he.
And to love him with all your heart,
with all your understanding,
with all your strength,
and to love your neighbor as yourself
is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."
And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,
he said to him,
"You are not far from the Kingdom of God."
And no one dared to ask him any more questions.
------------------------------
Getting close to Abba's Miracle-Working Heart
How well do you really know God as your Father? That's a question I've been asking myself this Lent. Let's consider how Hosea described him in the verses above. Do you know him as Healer? Do you know him as Spring Rain nourishing your soul to bring forth new fruits?
What is a father? What does the role mean to you? Hosea wrote of the Divine Father as one who disciplines us but definitely also heals us from the pains of the discipline. Like a dad who scolds us and then hugs our tears away.
Are you able to feel God the Father's hugs? Do you feel him wiping away your tears? Do you feel his tears mingling with your own?
How can we look at the Son and see the Father?
The answer is not in just looking at the Son. Looking doesn't get us anywhere. Jesus leads us on a journey to the Father's heart. As we walk together, he says, "Look! Watch what I do. I heal the sick, multiply the food, and calm the storm. It is the Father doing it through me." Jesus says in John 14:10-11 (NIV): "The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves."
Pause for a moment and think of who Jesus is to you. Think of his compassion, his kindness toward the downcast and his love for sinners. He's gentle, right? He goes to great lengths to help you, right? -- for example, his willingness to suffer excruciating tortures and death on a cross for you. In everything he does, he shows us the Father.
The next three verses (John 14:12-14) astound me: "Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." In other words (are you ready for this?), because Jesus is in you and in me, you and I are supposed to be showing the Father to the world around us. We are supposed to be able to say, "Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves." This means we are supposed to be doing miracles like Jesus did, and even greater ones! So that the Father may be glorified in the Son who is in us!
There are some places in today's world where Christians are living the truth of John 14:12-14. Where I live, miracles are much more rare. The reasons are multi-layered, but what matters most is that God the Father is not only willing to do miracles in our lives and through us in the lives of others as we serve in the mission of Christ, he is eager to do it, because his compassion is beyond measure. It pains his parental heart to see his children suffer. When Jesus died on the cross, the Father's heart broke. His heart breaks for you, too, when others hurt you. And his heart breaks over every soul that turns away from his love.
When we don't experience the signs and wonders of the Father, it's because we don't truly know who we are as his children. For example, for six month's I've been asking the Holy Spirit to give me the gift of visions along with hearing a "Word of Knowledge" (supernaturally knowing something that will help). When I pray for people, I wish I could see images that tell me what the Father wants to say about it. Then last Friday, during Mass while Jesus was present in the Eucharist, as I prayed for this again, I heard Jesus say with a smile, "You already have it."
And then on Saturday at the workshop, he proved it through an opportunity to minister to someone. A woman asked me to pray for her without telling me what to pray about. So I closed my eyes and trusted that God would pitch in to help. I saw a pathway and described it to her. She said that others who had prayed for her had seen the same thing! My confidence increased and so did the vision and knowledge about what it meant. What I saw next brought her to tears as Father God ministered to her through it.
Many reading this story have experienced such miracles often. The rest of us are victims of a culture that lies to us about who we truly are. However, as God's children, we are victors, not victims! Jesus has set us free to be who God designed us to be. Now we have to do the work of paying attention to God's design and overcoming all that holds us back from revealing God's true nature to the world. We are supposed to be doing miracles like Jesus did, and even greater ones, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son who is in us.
Are you able to feel God the Father's hugs? Do you feel him wiping away your tears? Do you feel his tears mingling with your own?
How can we look at the Son and see the Father?
The answer is not in just looking at the Son. Looking doesn't get us anywhere. Jesus leads us on a journey to the Father's heart. As we walk together, he says, "Look! Watch what I do. I heal the sick, multiply the food, and calm the storm. It is the Father doing it through me." Jesus says in John 14:10-11 (NIV): "The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves."
Pause for a moment and think of who Jesus is to you. Think of his compassion, his kindness toward the downcast and his love for sinners. He's gentle, right? He goes to great lengths to help you, right? -- for example, his willingness to suffer excruciating tortures and death on a cross for you. In everything he does, he shows us the Father.
The next three verses (John 14:12-14) astound me: "Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." In other words (are you ready for this?), because Jesus is in you and in me, you and I are supposed to be showing the Father to the world around us. We are supposed to be able to say, "Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves." This means we are supposed to be doing miracles like Jesus did, and even greater ones! So that the Father may be glorified in the Son who is in us!
There are some places in today's world where Christians are living the truth of John 14:12-14. Where I live, miracles are much more rare. The reasons are multi-layered, but what matters most is that God the Father is not only willing to do miracles in our lives and through us in the lives of others as we serve in the mission of Christ, he is eager to do it, because his compassion is beyond measure. It pains his parental heart to see his children suffer. When Jesus died on the cross, the Father's heart broke. His heart breaks for you, too, when others hurt you. And his heart breaks over every soul that turns away from his love.
When we don't experience the signs and wonders of the Father, it's because we don't truly know who we are as his children. For example, for six month's I've been asking the Holy Spirit to give me the gift of visions along with hearing a "Word of Knowledge" (supernaturally knowing something that will help). When I pray for people, I wish I could see images that tell me what the Father wants to say about it. Then last Friday, during Mass while Jesus was present in the Eucharist, as I prayed for this again, I heard Jesus say with a smile, "You already have it."
And then on Saturday at the workshop, he proved it through an opportunity to minister to someone. A woman asked me to pray for her without telling me what to pray about. So I closed my eyes and trusted that God would pitch in to help. I saw a pathway and described it to her. She said that others who had prayed for her had seen the same thing! My confidence increased and so did the vision and knowledge about what it meant. What I saw next brought her to tears as Father God ministered to her through it.
Many reading this story have experienced such miracles often. The rest of us are victims of a culture that lies to us about who we truly are. However, as God's children, we are victors, not victims! Jesus has set us free to be who God designed us to be. Now we have to do the work of paying attention to God's design and overcoming all that holds us back from revealing God's true nature to the world. We are supposed to be doing miracles like Jesus did, and even greater ones, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son who is in us.
-----------------------------
God Bless You.....
Rosary Family
The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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