SAINT QUOTE OF THE DAY : Thursday - January 03, 2019

Thursday - January 03, 2019

Occupy your minds with good thoughts, 

or the enemy will fill them with bad ones. Unoccupied, they cannot be.

-- St Thomas More

 

January 3 2019

 

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Christmas Weekday
Lectionary: 206

Reading 11 JN 2:29–3:6

If you consider that God is righteous,
you also know that everyone who acts in righteousness
is begotten by him.

See what love the Father has bestowed on us
that we may be called the children of God. 
Yet so we are.
The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
Beloved, we are God's children now;
what we shall be has not yet been revealed. 
We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him,
for we shall see him as he is.
Everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure,
as he is pure.

Everyone who commits sin commits lawlessness,
for sin is lawlessness. 
You know that he was revealed to take away sins,
and in him there is no sin. 
No one who remains in him sins;
no one who sins has seen him or known him.

Responsorial PsalmPS 98:1, 3CD-4, 5-6

R. (3cd)  All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
R. All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.
R. All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
Sing praise to the LORD with the harp,
with the harp and melodious song.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
sing joyfully before the King, the LORD.
R. All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.

AlleluiaJN 1:14A, 12A

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us.
To those who accepted him
he gave power to become the children of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelJN 1:29-34

John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said,
"Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
He is the one of whom I said,
'A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me
because he existed before me.'
I did not know him,
but the reason why I came baptizing with water
was that he might be made known to Israel."
John testified further, saying,
"I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from the sky
and remain upon him.
I did not know him,
but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me,
'On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain,
he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.'
Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God."

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How well do we know God?

Why do some people avoid sins that I so easily commit? Why do any of us fall prey to temptations that others say no to without a struggle?

Today's first reading points out that those who belong to God base their actions on righteousness, and those who don't know him choose lifestyles of sin.

How well do you and I really know God? Consider the sins you've already overcome. How did you stop being vulnerable to this particular temptation? If you remember it well enough to analyze it, you'll notice that you learned something about God that rendered the temptation powerless.

For example, many years ago I knew a Catholic prayer group leader who was actively involved in witchcraft. Since she did not give me the opportunity to help her see the error of her ways, I was tempted to strangle her with her rosary beads. Whenever I saw her, I did not remain in God; my thoughts did not stay pure and I did not behave like a child begotten of the Father.

Then at a Catholic Charismatic conference, which we both attended, I finally heard God reminding me that he loves her. And if he loves her, so should I, for a child learns by imitating the parent.

I ran to Confession for the grace that God would provide through this Sacrament, the supernatural help that would empower me to love her. The priest gave me an easy penance, but I felt God giving me an additional penance: "The next time you see her, give her a hug and tell her that you love her." My knee-jerk reaction: "What? Are You nuts, God?" (Knee-jerk reactions mean that we're a jerk when we should be on our knees in prayer.)

Reluctantly, I promised to obey. I spent the rest of the weekend looking for her. Oddly, I never saw her again. All God had wanted from me was my willingness to love her regardless of her sins. Since then, it's been a lot easier for me to resist this same temptation, not just with her, but with others, too, who are difficult to love.

We will never fully know God on this side of the gate to heaven. When we sin despite a genuine desire to be holy, it's because there's something we still need to learn about how good God is and how helpful he wants to be.

Jesus prayed on the cross, "Father, forgive them, because they don't know what they're doing." The more we know what God is really like, the more we understand what's holy and what's sinful, and the more horrified we feel about doing a sin. Temptations become powerless.

In today's Gospel passage, John the Baptizer describes how he came to know that Jesus is the Son of God. The same thing happens to us. The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to see and recognize Jesus. The Holy Spirit empowers us with understanding so that we can imitate Jesus. The Holy Spirit enables us to behave as true children of the Father.

Today's Prayer

May Your Spirit, Lord, give testimony of You through my deeds, my thoughts and my words. Thank You for Your Gift poured into Your Church. 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!”