SAINT QUOTE OF THE DAY : Wednesday - April 01, 2020

Wednesday - April 01, 2020

TODAY'S READINGS

 

April 01 2020

 

« March 31  |  April 2 »

Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Lectionary: 253

Reading 1DN 3:14-20, 91-92, 95

King Nebuchadnezzar said:
“Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
that you will not serve my god,
or worship the golden statue that I set up?
Be ready now to fall down and worship the statue I had made,
whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet,
flute, lyre, harp, psaltery, bagpipe,
and all the other musical instruments;
otherwise, you shall be instantly cast into the white-hot furnace;
and who is the God who can deliver you out of my hands?”
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar,
“There is no need for us to defend ourselves before you
in this matter.
If our God, whom we serve,
can save us from the white-hot furnace
and from your hands, O king, may he save us!
But even if he will not, know, O king,
that we will not serve your god
or worship the golden statue that you set up.”

King Nebuchadnezzar’s face became livid with utter rage
against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
He ordered the furnace to be heated seven times more than usual
and had some of the strongest men in his army
bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
and cast them into the white-hot furnace.

Nebuchadnezzar rose in haste and asked his nobles,
“Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?”
“Assuredly, O king,” they answered.
“But,” he replied, “I see four men unfettered and unhurt,
walking in the fire, and the fourth looks like a son of God.”
Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed,
“Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
who sent his angel to deliver the servants who trusted in him;
they disobeyed the royal command and yielded their bodies
rather than serve or worship any god
except their own God.”

Responsorial PsalmDANIEL 3:52, 53, 54, 55, 56

R.    (52b)  Glory and praise for ever!
“Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever;
And blessed is your holy and glorious name,
praiseworthy and exalted above all for all ages.”
R.    Glory and praise for ever!
“Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.
R.    Glory and praise for ever!
“Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.”
R.    Glory and praise for ever!
“Blessed are you who look into the depths
from your throne upon the cherubim;
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.”
R.    Glory and praise for ever!
“Blessed are you in the firmament of heaven,
praiseworthy and glorious forever.”
R.    Glory and praise for ever!

Verse Before The GospelLK 8:15

Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart
and yield a harvest through perseverance.

GospelJN 8:31-42

Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him,
“If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples,
and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham
and have never been enslaved to anyone.
How can you say, ‘You will become free’?”
Jesus answered them, “Amen, amen, I say to you,
everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.
A slave does not remain in a household forever,
but a son always remains.
So if the Son frees you, then you will truly be free.
I know that you are descendants of Abraham.
But you are trying to kill me,
because my word has no room among you.
I tell you what I have seen in the Father’s presence;
then do what you have heard from the Father.”

They answered and said to him, “Our father is Abraham.”
Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children,
you would be doing the works of Abraham.
But now you are trying to kill me,
a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God;
Abraham did not do this.
You are doing the works of your father!”
So they said to him, “We were not born of fornication.
We have one Father, God.”
Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me,
for I came from God and am here;
I did not come on my own, but he sent me.”

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Facing a Fiery Furnace?

In today's first reading, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego face the fiery furnace. In the Gospel reading, Jesus faces the cross. What are you facing that's difficult or fearsome? A painful task? The uncertainty of a rocky relationship? Perhaps you've been wrestling with your conscience because a Christian decision could cost you your job or a promotion.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were so devoted to God that they were willing to die for him. Jesus was so devoted to you and me and everyone else that he was willing to die for us. Love hurts. Love means making sacrifices that are painful. The question in every difficulty is: How much do we really love God? It's measured by how much we love those whom he loves.

When I think of the person I like least of all, it occurs to me that since Jesus suffered and sacrificed his life for that person, can't I at least be kind to him or her? When I think of all that I want to do with my life and remember that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were willing to give it all up for God, can't I at least give up a portion of my life to serve God with my talents and money in the parish and the Internet and other places?

God is not asking much of us, not really. He's not asking us to die for him -- although who knows? For some who are reading this reflection, that could be the glorious way that they will go Home to him.

Is that a scary thought? When reading the lives of Saints who were martyred, I've wondered, "How could they die so joyfully?" Some of them were tortured terribly. How could they endure it so happily? The answer, I've noticed, is that God gave them special graces to do whatever they were called to do at the time they did it. If they were willing to say yes to die for him, he gave them a supernatural joy like you and I have never experienced because we've never needed it. If he asks us to enter our own fiery furnaces, he will give us that same gift.

He helps us through every little martyrdom that we face. If we are willing to sacrifice a job or a promotion or a relationship or an easy life for the sake of standing firm in our love for God, then God gives us an extra dose of grace so that we can endure the hardship. We still feel pain (so did Jesus), but it's easier to bear when we're covered by grace.

Instead of saying no or serving grudgingly and sparingly with our money or ministry, we can say yes and expect God's help. Instead of hesitating because the task looks fearsome, we can say yes and receive supernatural grace to endure it.

It's in the toughest of times that we spiritually grow the fastest, leaping into the life of Christ, getting through the pain of the cross all the way to the glory of the resurrection.

Today's Prayer:
Lord, getting through the pain of the cross is possible only by going hand in hand with You. Help me, in those difficult moments, to unite my sufferings to Yours. Amen.

--------------------------------

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!”

SAINT QUOTE OF THE DAY : Tuesday - March 31, 2020

Tuesday - March 31, 2020

TODAY'S READINGS

 

March 31 2020

 

« March 30  |  April 1 »

Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Lectionary: 252

Reading 1NM 21:4-9

From Mount Hor the children of Israel set out on the Red Sea road,
to bypass the land of Edom.
But with their patience worn out by the journey,
the people complained against God and Moses,
“Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert,
where there is no food or water?
We are disgusted with this wretched food!”

In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents,
which bit the people so that many of them died.
Then the people came to Moses and said,
“We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you.
Pray the LORD to take the serpents away from us.”
So Moses prayed for the people, and the LORD said to Moses,
“Make a saraph and mount it on a pole,
and whoever looks at it after being bitten will live.”
Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole,
and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent
looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

Responsorial Psalm102:2-3, 16-18, 19-21

R.    (2)  O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.
O LORD, hear my prayer,
and let my cry come to you.
Hide not your face from me
in the day of my distress.
Incline your ear to me;    
in the day when I call, answer me speedily.
R.    O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.
The nations shall revere your name, O LORD,
and all the kings of the earth your glory,
When the LORD has rebuilt Zion
and appeared in his glory;
When he has regarded the prayer of the destitute,
and not despised their prayer.
R.    O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.
Let this be written for the generation to come,
and let his future creatures praise the LORD:
“The LORD looked down from his holy height,
from heaven he beheld the earth,
To hear the groaning of the prisoners,
to release those doomed to die.”
R.    O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.

Verse Before The Gospel

The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower;
all who come to him will live forever.

GospelJN 8:21-30

Jesus said to the Pharisees:
“I am going away and you will look for me,
but you will die in your sin.
Where I am going you cannot come.”
So the Jews said,
“He is not going to kill himself, is he,
because he said, ‘Where I am going you cannot come’?”
He said to them, “You belong to what is below,
I belong to what is above.
You belong to this world,
but I do not belong to this world.
That is why I told you that you will die in your sins.
For if you do not believe that I AM,
you will die in your sins.”
So they said to him, “Who are you?”
Jesus said to them, “What I told you from the beginning.
I have much to say about you in condemnation.
But the one who sent me is true,
and what I heard from him I tell the world.”
They did not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father.
So Jesus said to them,
“When you lift up the Son of Man,
then you will realize that I AM,
and that I do nothing on my own,
but I say only what the Father taught me.
The one who sent me is with me.
He has not left me alone,
because I always do what is pleasing to him.”
Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in him.

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Have Any Complaints?

Think of the "pharisees" in your life, the unteachable people who are so sure they're right that their pride blinds them to their errors and sins. We all have some degree of phariseeism in our thoughts.

Humility is the cure -- taking an honest look at our fallibility to discover how we have strayed from God's will so that our Lenten journey brings us back to him.
In today's first reading, the Israelites realized that their straying began when they complained. Pride tells us that it's right to complain because we know (as if we're God) that life should be perfect. Pride tells us that suffering is proof that we should grumble and complain rather than praise God. Pride makes us impatient for the Promised Land, which we will not reach unless we do a lot of growing first.

Growth is a product of suffering. Complaints are a product of pride.

The Israelites were saved from their pride when God provided a tool of repentance, the bronze serpent mounted on a pole, which foreshadowed the crucifixion of the Messiah. The serpent represented their sins, just as Jesus would one day accept all the world's sins upon himself and be "mounted" on the cross and raised up for all to see.

In today's Gospel passage, the Pharisees are so sure they have the right understanding of God that they fail to recognize Jesus as their long-awaited Messiah. When people justify sins by claiming that that are hearing God correctly, they become offensive whenever their understanding is challenged by reality. How do you handle this? Do you complain?
Analyze what you're saying when you complain. Complaining about people means we're condemning them. Complaining about a situation is condemning the God who allowed the situation to occur.

Look at how Jesus handled the Pharisees. He longed for them to hear and accept the truth. He could have complained about them, but instead he rested in the fact that the day would come when the truth would speak for itself.

If you feel like complaining, take your complaints to God and only to God; he understands your frustrations better than everyone else. Go to friends for good counsel, but don't drag them into the fray by making them complain, too.

When we vent our anger to God alone, our complaints dissolve into his mercy. We lose interest in complaining. We are healed. We find peace. Does that happen when you vent with your friends?

Join me in making one more sacrifice for Lent. Let's sacrifice our complaints. Let's nail our complaining nature to the cross. Let's take a vow of silence rather than allow complaints to escape from our lips. God will resurrect us into a new life of peace and joy that lasts even when things go wrong.

Today's Prayer
Good Father, forgive me for my complaints. When I complain, I believe that I know more about life than You do. Teach me how to recognize Your path in my everyday circumstances. Amen.

--------------------------------

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!”

Prayers during COVID19 outbreak suggested by our Bishop's Office

• Prayers for Protection 

  • Psalm 91 Prayer

     Psalm 91 is a powerful psalm of protection which we can recite daily as a means of protection and strength during the Coronavirus outbreak.
• • A Special Prayer to The Blessed Virgin Mary

    O Mary, you shine continuously on our journey as a sign of salvation and hope.
    
    We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick.
    
    At the foot of the Cross you participated in Jesus’ pain, with steadfast faith.
    You, Salvation of the Roman People, know what we need. We are certain that you will provide, so that, as you did at Cana of Galilee, joy and feasting might return after this moment of trial.
    
    Help us, Mother of Divine Love, to conform ourselves to the Father’s will and to do what Jesus tells us: He who took our sufferings upon Himself, and bore our sorrows to bring us, through the Cross, to the joy of the Resurrection. Amen.
    
    We seek refuge under your protection, O Holy Mother of God. Do not despise our pleas – we who are put to the test – and deliver us from every danger, O glorious and blessed Virgin.
    
    [This prayer, recited by Pope Francis, addressed to the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of Salus Populi Romani "Salvation of the Roman People" is a prayer that can be applied to the whole church]

    
    

  • St. Patrick's Breastplate

    
    I arise today,
    through God's strength to pilot me,
    God's might to uphold me,
    God's wisdom to guide me,
    God's eye to look before me,
    God's ear to hear me,
    God's word to speak for me,
    God's hand to guard me,
    God's shield to protect me,
    God's host to save me.
    
    Christ be with me, Christ within me
    Christ behind me, Christ before me
    Christ beside me, Christ to win me
    Christ to comfort me and restore me.
    Christ beneath me, Christ above me
    Christ in quiet, Christ in danger
    Christ in hearts of all that love me
    Christ in mouth of friend or stranger.
    
     

  ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
• Prayers when we cannot attend mass in person

• • Prayer to your Guardian Angel

    Dear Guardian Angel, go for me to the church, there kneel down at Mass for me. At the Offertory, take me to God, and offer Him my service: What I am, what I have, offer as my gift. At the Consecration, with your seraphic strength, adore my Saviour truly present, praying for those who have loved me, for those who have offended me, and for those now deceased, that the blood of Jesus may purify them all. During Holy Communion, bring to me the body and blood of Jesus uniting Him with me in spirit, so that my heart may become His dwelling place. Plead with Him, that through His sacrifice all people throughout the world may be saved. When the Mass ends, bring home to me and to every home, the Lord’s blessing. Amen.
    
    (Proposed by Bishop Paul Hinder in his Message to the Faithful during the outbreak, when impeded from attending mass)
    
     

  • Act of Spiritual Communion

    My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.
    I love you above all things, and I desire to receive you into my soul.
    
    Since I cannot at this moment receive you sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart.
    
    I embrace you as if you were already there and unite myself wholly to you.
    
    Never permit me to be separated from you.
    
    (By St. Alphonsus de Liguori, which can be recited at any time, but especially when watching the transmission of the mass and unable to receive Holy Communion)

SAINT QUOTE OF THE DAY : Monday - March 30, 2020

Monday - March 30, 2020

TODAY'S READINGS

 

March 30 2020

 

« March 29  |  March 31 »

Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Lectionary: 251

Reading 1DN 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62 OR 13:41C-62

In Babylon there lived a man named Joakim,
who married a very beautiful and God-fearing woman, Susanna,
the daughter of Hilkiah;
her pious parents had trained their daughter
according to the law of Moses.
Joakim was very rich;
he had a garden near his house,
and the Jews had recourse to him often
because he was the most respected of them all.

That year, two elders of the people were appointed judges,
of whom the Lord said, “Wickedness has come out of Babylon:
from the elders who were to govern the people as judges.”
These men, to whom all brought their cases,
frequented the house of Joakim.
When the people left at noon,
Susanna used to enter her husband’s garden for a walk.
When the old men saw her enter every day for her walk,
they began to lust for her.
They suppressed their consciences;
they would not allow their eyes to look to heaven,
and did not keep in mind just judgments.

One day, while they were waiting for the right moment,
she entered the garden as usual, with two maids only.
She decided to bathe, for the weather was warm.
Nobody else was there except the two elders,
who had hidden themselves and were watching her.
“Bring me oil and soap,” she said to the maids,
“and shut the garden doors while I bathe.”

As soon as the maids had left,
the two old men got up and hurried to her.
“Look,” they said, “the garden doors are shut, and no one can see us;
give in to our desire, and lie with us.
If you refuse, we will testify against you
that you dismissed your maids because a young man was here with you.”

“I am completely trapped,” Susanna groaned.
“If I yield, it will be my death;
if I refuse, I cannot escape your power.
Yet it is better for me to fall into your power without guilt
than to sin before the Lord.”
Then Susanna shrieked, and the old men also shouted at her,
as one of them ran to open the garden doors.
When the people in the house heard the cries from the garden,
they rushed in by the side gate to see what had happened to her.
At the accusations by the old men,
the servants felt very much ashamed,
for never had any such thing been said about Susanna.

When the people came to her husband Joakim the next day,
the two wicked elders also came,
fully determined to put Susanna to death.
Before all the people they ordered:
“Send for Susanna, the daughter of Hilkiah,
the wife of Joakim.”
When she was sent for,
she came with her parents, children and all her relatives.
All her relatives and the onlookers were weeping.

In the midst of the people the two elders rose up
and laid their hands on her head.
Through tears she looked up to heaven,
for she trusted in the Lord wholeheartedly.
The elders made this accusation:
“As we were walking in the garden alone,
this woman entered with two girls
and shut the doors of the garden, dismissing the girls.
A young man, who was hidden there, came and lay with her.
When we, in a corner of the garden, saw this crime,
we ran toward them.
We saw them lying together,
but the man we could not hold, because he was stronger than we;
he opened the doors and ran off.
Then we seized her and asked who the young man was,
but she refused to tell us.
We testify to this.”
The assembly believed them,
since they were elders and judges of the people,
and they condemned her to death.

But Susanna cried aloud:
“O eternal God, you know what is hidden
and are aware of all things before they come to be:
you know that they have testified falsely against me.
Here I am about to die,
though I have done none of the things
with which these wicked men have charged me.”

The Lord heard her prayer.
As she was being led to execution,
God stirred up the holy spirit of a young boy named Daniel,
and he cried aloud:
“I will have no part in the death of this woman.”
All the people turned and asked him, “What is this you are saying?”
He stood in their midst and continued,
“Are you such fools, O children of Israel!
To condemn a woman of Israel without examination
and without clear evidence?
Return to court, for they have testified falsely against her.”

Then all the people returned in haste.
To Daniel the elders said,
“Come, sit with us and inform us,
since God has given you the prestige of old age.”
But he replied,
“Separate these two far from each other that I may examine them.”

After they were separated one from the other,
he called one of them and said:
“How you have grown evil with age!
Now have your past sins come to term:
passing unjust sentences, condemning the innocent,
and freeing the guilty, although the Lord says,
‘The innocent and the just you shall not put to death.’
Now, then, if you were a witness,
tell me under what tree you saw them together.”
“Under a mastic tree,” he answered.
Daniel replied, “Your fine lie has cost you your head,
for the angel of God shall receive the sentence from him
and split you in two.”
Putting him to one side, he ordered the other one to be brought.
Daniel said to him,
“Offspring of Canaan, not of Judah, beauty has seduced you,
lust has subverted your conscience.
This is how you acted with the daughters of Israel,
and in their fear they yielded to you;
but a daughter of Judah did not tolerate your wickedness.
Now, then, tell me under what tree you surprised them together.”
“Under an oak,” he said.
Daniel replied, “Your fine lie has cost you also your head,
for the angel of God waits with a sword to cut you in two
so as to make an end of you both.”

The whole assembly cried aloud,
blessing God who saves those who hope in him.
They rose up against the two elders,
for by their own words Daniel had convicted them of perjury.
According to the law of Moses,
they inflicted on them
the penalty they had plotted to impose on their neighbor:
they put them to death.
Thus was innocent blood spared that day.

or

The assembly condemned Susanna to death.

But Susanna cried aloud:
“O eternal God, you know what is hidden
and are aware of all things before they come to be:
you know that they have testified falsely against me.
Here I am about to die,
though I have done none of the things
with which these wicked men have charged me.”

The Lord heard her prayer.
As she was being led to execution,
God stirred up the holy spirit of a young boy named Daniel,
and he cried aloud:
“I will have no part in the death of this woman.”
All the people turned and asked him,
“What is this you are saying?”
He stood in their midst and continued,
“Are you such fools, O children of Israel!
To condemn a woman of Israel without examination
and without clear evidence?
Return to court, for they have testified falsely against her.”

Then all the people returned in haste.
To Daniel the elders said,
“Come, sit with us and inform us,
since God has given you the prestige of old age.”
But he replied,
“Separate these two far from each other that I may examine them.”

After they were separated one from the other,
he called one of them and said:
“How you have grown evil with age!
Now have your past sins come to term:
passing unjust sentences, condemning the innocent,
and freeing the guilty, although the Lord says,
‘The innocent and the just you shall not put to death.’
Now, then, if you were a witness,
tell me under what tree you saw them together.”
“Under a mastic tree,” he answered.
Daniel replied, “Your fine lie has cost you your head,
for the angel of God shall receive the sentence from him
and split you in two.”
Putting him to one side, he ordered the other one to be brought.
Daniel said to him, “Offspring of Canaan, not of Judah,
beauty has seduced you, lust has subverted your conscience.
This is how you acted with the daughters of Israel,
and in their fear they yielded to you;
but a daughter of Judah did not tolerate your wickedness.
Now, then, tell me under what tree you surprised them together.”
“Under an oak,” he said.
Daniel replied, “Your fine lie has cost you also your head,”
for the angel of God waits with a sword to cut you in two
so as to make an end of you both.”

The whole assembly cried aloud,
blessing God who saves those who hope in him.
They rose up against the two elders,
for by their own words Daniel had convicted them of perjury.
According to the law of Moses,
they inflicted on them
the penalty they had plotted to impose on their neighbor:
they put them to death.
Thus was innocent blood spared that day.

Responsorial Psalm23:1-3A, 3B-4, 5, 6

R. (4ab) Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
Beside restful waters he leads me;
he refreshes my soul.
R. Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side.
He guides me in right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
With your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
R. Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side.
You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
R. Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side.
Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.
R. Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side.

Verse Before The GospelEZ 33:11

I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, says the Lord,
but rather in his conversion, that he may live.

GospelJN 8:1-11

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area,
and all the people started coming to him,
and he sat down and taught them.
Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman
who had been caught in adultery
and made her stand in the middle.
They said to him,
“Teacher, this woman was caught
in the very act of committing adultery.
Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women.
So what do you say?”
They said this to test him,
so that they could have some charge to bring against him.
Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.
But when they continued asking him,
he straightened up and said to them,
“Let the one among you who is without sin
be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Again he bent down and wrote on the ground.
And in response, they went away one by one,
beginning with the elders.
So he was left alone with the woman before him.
Then Jesus straightened up and said to her,
“Woman, where are they?
Has no one condemned you?”
She replied, “No one, sir.”
Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you.
Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”

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Shame or Guilt or Mercy

Have you ever been accused unmercifully, like Susanna in today's first reading? Whether the accusation is true or false, we feel terribly invalidated, especially if it comes without forgiveness. Even when we've done nothing wrong, we need an attitude of mercy from our accuser or else the wound goes very deep.

Feeling remorseful for a genuine sin doesn't make it easier to endure the harsh reactions of others. Since we naturally prefer to look good in the eyes of others, especially when they treat us unmercifully, we defend ourselves and try to rationalize away our sins.

This happens because we're trying to protect ourselves from shame. Guilt is the honest awareness that we have sinned, which leads to remorse, which leads to healing. Shame is different. Unlike guilt, which tells us how we sinned and so that we can repent, and unlike regret, which motivates us to make amends for our sin and to avoid it in the future, belittles us.

Only mercy can protect us from shame. Mercy validates our worth. Without it, we try to protect ourselves from shame by manipulating people into liking us and approving of us and affirming us. The more we sin, the more desperate we become for other people's approval. And the more desperate we become, the less remorse we feel for what we've done wrong, because remorse includes the feeling that we deserve disapproval.

To heal the wounds of shame, we must realize that our desire to repent and receive forgiveness has opened us to the mercy of God and that his opinion of us is what matters most.

When we're accused falsely, we're at the mercy of others and they have rejected us. If their opinions matter to us, we hunger for affirmation. We defend ourselves and offend those who accused us. We convert our innocence into selfishness and pride and other unloving behavior.

To heal this wound we must know that we are embraced by the mercy of God.

No one can validate us like God can. He alone knows what's in our hearts. He alone loves us completely, no matter what we do. In him there is no shame -- regret, yes, but not shame, because he has erased our guilt with Christ's blood on the cross. When we grasp the fidelity of God's mercy, we are freed from the self-protective need to be validated by people.

Shame is harmful but guilt and regret are redemptive. Guilt motivates us to repent. Repentance purifies us, and regret builds our holiness. Holiness extends God's mercy to those around us. In holiness, we invite others to recognize their own guilt without shaming them into it. As we have received mercy, we give mercy, and so the world becomes a better place.

Today's Prayer
Jesus, I need to be aware of Your mercy so I can live in Your freedom. Give me the grace of being as merciful with my neighbors as You are with me. 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!”