SAINT QUOTE OF THE DAY : Thursday - June 21, 2018

Thursday - June 21, 2018

It is not a good thing to load ourselves with many spiritual exercises; it is better to undertake a little, and go on with it:

for if the devil can persuade us to omit an exercise once, he will easily get us to omit it the second time, and the third, until at last all our pious practices will melt away.

-- Saint Philip Neri

 

June 21, 2018

 

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Memorial of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious
Lectionary: 368

Reading 1SIR 48:1-14

Like a fire there appeared the prophet Elijah
whose words were as a flaming furnace.
Their staff of bread he shattered,
in his zeal he reduced them to straits;
By the Lord's word he shut up the heavens
and three times brought down fire.
How awesome are you, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds!
Whose glory is equal to yours?
You brought a dead man back to life
from the nether world, by the will of the LORD.
You sent kings down to destruction,
and easily broke their power into pieces.
You brought down nobles, from their beds of sickness.
You heard threats at Sinai,
at Horeb avenging judgments.
You anointed kings who should inflict vengeance,
and a prophet as your successor.
You were taken aloft in a whirlwind of fire,
in a chariot with fiery horses.
You were destined, it is written, in time to come
to put an end to wrath before the day of the LORD,
To turn back the hearts of fathers toward their sons,
and to re-establish the tribes of Jacob.
Blessed is he who shall have seen you 
And who falls asleep in your friendship.
For we live only in our life,
but after death our name will not be such.
O Elijah, enveloped in the whirlwind!

Then Elisha, filled with the twofold portion of his spirit,
wrought many marvels by his mere word.
During his lifetime he feared no one,
nor was any man able to intimidate his will.
Nothing was beyond his power;
beneath him flesh was brought back into life.
In life he performed wonders,
and after death, marvelous deeds.

Responsorial PsalmPS 97:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7

R. (12a) Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
The LORD is king; let the earth rejoice;
let the many isles be glad.
Clouds and darkness are round about him,
justice and judgment are the foundation of his throne. 
R. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
Fire goes before him
and consumes his foes round about.
His lightnings illumine the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
R. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,
before the Lord of all the earth.
The heavens proclaim his justice,
and all peoples see his glory.
R. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
All who worship graven things are put to shame,
who glory in the things of nought;
all gods are prostrate before him.
R. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!

AlleluiaROM 8:15BC

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
You have received a spirit of adoption as sons
through which we cry: Abba! Father!
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelMT 6:7-15

Jesus said to his disciples:
"In praying, do not babble like the pagans,
who think that they will be heard because of their many words.
Do not be like them.
Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

"This is how you are to pray:

'Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.'

"If you forgive others their transgressions,
your heavenly Father will forgive you.
But if you do not forgive others,
neither will your Father forgive your transgressions."

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PRAYER THAT'S POWERFUL

True Christian living is quite a challenge! It's not for wimps. We cannot succeed as true followers of Christ unless we have a good prayer life -- a real prayer life, not a babbly one.

In today's Gospel reading, Jesus contrasts babble-prayer with holy prayer, and wordy prayer with a heart-felt "Our Father" prayer. Some people think that the Rosary is babble-prayer, simply because it's a repetitious, formula prayer. And it can be. But it's babble only for those who don't use it for meditation within an intimate, loving communication with God.

Some Catholics mistakenly use the Rosary as a bribe, thinking that by doing a novena (nine days) of Rosaries they can bribe God into giving them whatever they're requesting. A holy novena is a personal commitment of obedience. But a babbly novena is, quite honestly, manipulative and assumes that God can be forced to obey us -- as if he needs to be forced to do good!

Our Father knows what we need before we begin the novena or any other prayer, even before we know that we should pray. The Rosary is powerful, as is our commitment to making a novena of Rosaries, but only if we surrender ourselves, our desires, and our ideas about how God should respond to our requests.

Prayer is powerful when we give God our trust and accept that the outcome -- whatever it is -- is a blessing from God, since he knows the best way to deal with every situation far better than we do.

Think of the prayer that Jesus gave us when he taught us how to pray to our Father. How do you use this prayer? Is it quickly babbled? I dare say that it's sometimes babbled during Mass and at the start of church meetings. Rote prayers often come from the head and bypass the heart.

Each line of this prayer is rich in meaning and very powerful for daily conversion, healing, and growth. Too often, we rush through it without paying attention to what we're saying. It's meant to be an intimate conversation with our very dear, huggable Father. It's the ideal prayer, because it covers everything, the whole range of our needs, even unknown needs.

In your personal quiet time with the Lord, take at least five minutes to make this a real prayer, expanding upon every phrase as you converse with your Divine Daddy. If you do this, you'll notice that the quick recitations of it at Mass and on other occasions will become meaningful, heart-felt experiences of God's love.

Today's Prayer

Thank You, Father, because whenever I raise my prayer to You, You're already listening to what my heart says. May Your Holy Spirit help me to grow more and more in my intimacy with You. Amen.

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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!”