SAINT QUOTE OF THE DAY : Saturday - August 01, 2020

Saturday - August 01, 2020

 You cannot please both God and the world at the same time. They are utterly opposed to each other in their thoughts, their desires, and their actions.

-- St. John Mary Vianney

 

August 1 2020

 

« July 31  |  August 2 »

Memorial of Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Lectionary: 406

Reading 1JER 26:11-16, 24

The priests and prophets said to the princes and to all the people,
“This man deserves death;
he has prophesied against this city,
as you have heard with your own ears.”
Jeremiah gave this answer to the princes and all the people:
“It was the LORD who sent me to prophesy against this house and city
all that you have heard.
Now, therefore, reform your ways and your deeds;
listen to the voice of the LORD your God,
so that the LORD will repent of the evil with which he threatens you.
As for me, I am in your hands;
do with me what you think good and right.
But mark well: if you put me to death,
it is innocent blood you bring on yourselves,
on this city and its citizens.
For in truth it was the LORD who sent me to you,
to speak all these things for you to hear.”

Thereupon the princes and all the people
said to the priests and the prophets,
“This man does not deserve death;
it is in the name of the LORD, our God, that he speaks to us.”

So Ahikam, son of Shaphan, protected Jeremiah,
so that he was not handed over to the people to be put to death

Responsorial Psalm69:15-16, 30-31, 33-34

R.    (14c)  Lord, in your great love, answer me.
Rescue me out of the mire; may I not sink!
may I be rescued from my foes,
and from the watery depths.
Let not the flood-waters overwhelm me,
nor the abyss swallow me up,
nor the pit close its mouth over me.
R.     Lord, in your great love, answer me.
But I am afflicted and in pain;
let your saving help, O God, protect me.
I will praise the name of God in song,
and I will glorify him with thanksgiving.
R.     Lord, in your great love, answer me.
“See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.”
R.     Lord, in your great love, answer me.

AlleluiaMT 5:10

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelMT 14:1-12

Herod the tetrarch heard of the reputation of Jesus
and said to his servants, “This man is John the Baptist.
He has been raised from the dead;
that is why mighty powers are at work in him.”

Now Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison
on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip,
for John had said to him,
“It is not lawful for you to have her.”
Although he wanted to kill him, he feared the people,
for they regarded him as a prophet.
But at a birthday celebration for Herod,
the daughter of Herodias performed a dance before the guests
and delighted Herod so much
that he swore to give her whatever she might ask for.
Prompted by her mother, she said,
“Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”
The king was distressed,
but because of his oaths and the guests who were present,
he ordered that it be given, and he had John beheaded in the prison.
His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl,
who took it to her mother.
His disciples came and took away the corpse
and buried him; and they went and told Jesus.

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How to be a Prophet

I've been pondering how we can best make a difference for the kingdom of God in today's dark world, which seems to be getting darker every day.

Like Jeremiah and John the Baptist in Saturday's readings for Catholic Mass, we too are called to be prophets. It's a character trait in all of God's children. During our baptisms we were marked with oil as a sign of being consecrated to God the Father, anointed by the Holy Spirit, to join Jesus in his threefold mission as prophet, priest, and king.

As a prophet, you are a messenger sent by God. As a prophet, you speak on God's behalf, encouraging others in their faith journeys and calling people to conversion. Sometimes the message is about the future.

Think about this. How well is your prophetic character trait showing? What holds you back?

As I asked myself these questions, I concluded that I'm doing way too little in the face of the hugeness of the presence of evil in our world these days. What holds me back is something the devil wants me to believe: I'm too little, too insignificant, too incapable of making a difference in the hearts of those who are in mortal danger of eternal separation from God.

When I took this to the Lord, he told me that I/we need to stop listening to the accuser (the devil) about who I am, who you are.

God the Father is speaking to us all the time about who we really are. As his children, we are more capable -- by his grace -- to do everything that a true follower of Christ can do (per John 14:12, the Book of Acts, etc.). Mystical experiences and miracles are not limited by God; they are limited by us and the insufficient faith formation we've had. The vocation of prophet is not limited to a few super-saints and mystics; you and I have the same calling as they've had.

While I was still reflecting on this, God confirmed it by displaying a video on my phone. YouTube's suggestion of what I might be interested in seeing was uncanny. It was Father Mike Schmitz speaking on "Who You Are vs. Who You’re Called to Be". In summary, he says:

I had believed that a person is either good at something or bad at something, and if I'm bad at math I don't care about math. If I'm not good at this, then then why put forth the effort? Because I had "a fixed mindset".

Is this how you feel about being a prophet?

We can have a growth mindset or a fixed mindset. A growth mindset is: I acknowledge the truth, I acknowledge the reality, like: I'm bad at math; I currently struggle at math but I can get better.

Are you ready and willing to dare to be a prophet of Christ's light to those who live in darkness? The darker the world gets, the brighter the light of Jesus gets in us who choose to be his presence in the world today.

God sees us as we are. He sees where we struggle, he sees where we have strengths, he sees where we're weak, he sees where we're wounded. He sees us as we are, but he approaches us as we could be.

If there's a sacrament that is a growth mindset sacrament, it is the Sacrament of Confession. Acknowledge, "I am not as holy as I should be," and let the Lord pick you and up move forward. Let him give you his grace and move you forward.

See yourself as someone who's called to the struggle: "I'm called to enter back into the fray after I've fallen." Then every time you need help, every time you fall down and get back up, that's a victory. Every time you struggle, that's growth.

Today you might not be the person that you could be, but you are someone who can grow. You have been made to be a saint in that sanctity that comes from God's grace. Ask for his grace, and don't be afraid to struggle.

Please take the message into your own heart and be set free by God's grace to be the prophet you are called to be, sharing the light of Christ in the darkness around you.

7 steps to becoming the prophet you are called to be

1. Your "yes" to the calling is the first step.

2. Acknowledge the reasons you hold back and turn them over to the Lord, including in the Sacrament of Confession.

3. Ask the Holy Spirit daily to renew you and fill you to overflowing. A personal relationship with the Holy Spirit is a must.

4. Fill yourself with good faith formation. Learn something every day. Spend less time on secular entertainment. 

5. Pay attention to the Holy Spirit stirring up a message within you. When do you feel disturbed by something going on in the world or in the Church? That disturbance is the Holy Spirit giving you a message to speak.

6. Find outlets for the message. Jesus will point them out to you. Don't force yourself upon anyone. Just look for an open door that God is providing. If you can't see it yet, write the message in a journal for safekeeping. And hey, it's a good idea to write in the journal even when you have another outlet.

7. Spend time praising and worshiping God with words of joy, thanking him for fertilizing and growing the seeds you planted for him.

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God Bless You.....

The 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 : Friday - July 31, 2020

Friday - July 31, 2020

Spread love everywhere you go: first of all in your own house. Give love to your children, to your wife or husband, to a next door neighbor... Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting.

~~Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

July 31 2020

« July 30  |  August 1 »

Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Priest
Lectionary: 405

Reading 1JER 26:1-9

In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim,
son of Josiah, king of Judah,
this message came from the LORD:
Thus says the LORD:
Stand in the court of the house of the LORD
and speak to the people of all the cities of Judah
who come to worship in the house of the LORD;
whatever I command you, tell them, and omit nothing.
Perhaps they will listen and turn back,
each from his evil way,
so that I may repent of the evil I have planned to inflict upon them
for their evil deeds.
Say to them:  Thus says the LORD:
If you disobey me,
not living according to the law I placed before you
and not listening to the words of my servants the prophets,
whom I send you constantly though you do not obey them,
I will treat this house like Shiloh,
and make this the city to which all the nations of the earth
shall refer when cursing another.

Now the priests, the prophets, and all the people
heard Jeremiah speak these words in the house of the LORD.
When Jeremiah finished speaking
all that the LORD bade him speak to all the people,
the priests and prophets laid hold of him, crying,
“You must be put to death!
Why do you prophesy in the name of the LORD:
‘This house shall be like Shiloh,’ and
‘This city shall be desolate and deserted’?”
And all the people gathered about Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.

Responsorial Psalm69:5, 8-10, 14

R.     (14c)  Lord, in your great love, answer me.
Those outnumber the hairs of my head
who hate me without cause.
Too many for my strength
are they who wrongfully are my enemies.
Must I restore what I did not steal?
R.    Lord, in your great love, answer me.
Since for your sake I bear insult,
and shame covers my face.
I have become an outcast to my brothers,
a stranger to my mother’s sons,
Because zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who blaspheme you fall upon me.
R.    Lord, in your great love, answer me.
But I pray to you, O LORD,
for the time of your favor, O God!
In your great kindness answer me
with your constant help.
R.    Lord, in your great love, answer me.

Alleluia1 PT 1:25

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The word of the Lord remains forever;
this is the word that has been proclaimed to you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelMT 13:54-58

Jesus came to his native place and taught the people in their synagogue.
They were astonished and said,
“Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds?
Is he not the carpenter’s son?
Is not his mother named Mary
and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?
Are not his sisters all with us?
Where did this man get all this?”
And they took offense at him.
But Jesus said to them,
“A prophet is not without honor except in his native place
and in his own house.”
And he did not work many mighty deeds there
because of their lack of faith.

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The Blessing of Being Rejected

Do you feel opposed? Treated unjustly? Are there friends who wrongfully reject what you've said, as if you're an enemy trying to hurt them or mislead them? Are you bearing insults because of your faith? Do your own family members outcast you because of your zeal for the house of God? If so, Psalm 69 is your song!

The prophet Jeremiah felt the same way. As we see in today's first reading, he delivered the message that God had commissioned him to speak, and the people hated him for it. 
Whenever we stand up for the truth, there are always those who resent us. But if we've spoken with compassion, without an attitude of superiority, and with genuine concern for others, the only reason we get rejected is that they prefer to live in darkness.

Jesus understands how you feel. In today's Gospel reading, he was disbelieved simply because he was too familiar to the people of his home town. They remembered him as Joseph's kid or maybe as a baby conceived illegitimately. Their memories of his youthfulness distracted them from seeing his true identity as the Savior of the world. Similarly, you and I are rejected by those who know us too well.

Rather than get upset about this, we should use it to deepen our own humility. Being accepted by God should be our primary goal; it's only his opinion of us that really matters. As long as God approves of us, the fact that others accept us or reject us is a moot point.
As a matter of fact, being rejected by the very people who should praise us is beneficial to our spiritual growth! St. Teresa of Avila said: "God deliver us from people who wish to serve him yet who are mindful of their own honor" (from "The Way of Perfection", chapter 12). When we want to be accepted because it feels good, we're caught in the trap of self-centeredness. St. Teresa called it the temptation of "vainglory" (vanity); to do God's will and then expect others to praise us for it is a "poison" that is "fatal to perfection" (it destroys the love and holiness within us).

We should want nothing but to please God and we should expect no reward but his happiness.

It's difficult to remain humble while being accepted and praised. It's harder still when, after being rejected, we become focused on "I'm right! They're wrong!" When we exercise humility, we mourn the darkness in the other person's soul more than we cry about being rejected. In humility, we pray: "Lord, replace my anger and my self-pity with tears of concern."

Thus we become united to the healing wounds of Jesus, and the rejection no longer stings as a personal attack.

Today's Prayer
Forgive me Lord, because my pride so often controls me. Make me humble to be aware of my poverty and to place my strength in You only, and to serve my brothers and sisters. Amen.

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God Bless You.....

The 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 : Thursday - July 30, 2020

Thursday - July 30, 2020

All the darkness in the world 

cannot extinguish 

the light of a single candle.

~~St. Francis of Assisi

July 30 2020

 

« July 29  |  July 31 »

Thursday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 404

Reading 1JER 18:1-6

This word came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
Rise up, be off to the potter’s house;
there I will give you my message.
I went down to the potter’s house and there he was,
working at the wheel.
Whenever the object of clay which he was making
turned out badly in his hand,
he tried again,
making of the clay another object of whatever sort he pleased.
Then the word of the LORD came to me:
Can I not do to you, house of Israel,
as this potter has done? says the LORD.
Indeed, like clay in the hand of the potter,
so are you in my hand, house of Israel.

Responsorial Psalm146:1B-2, 3-4, 5-6AB

R.    (5a)  Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.
or:
R.    Alleluia.
Praise the LORD, O my soul;
I will praise the LORD all my life;
I will sing praise to my God while I live.
R.     Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.
or:
R.    Alleluia.
Put not your trust in princes,
in the sons of men, in whom there is no salvation.
When his spirit departs he returns to his earth;
on that day his plans perish.
R.    Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.
or:
R.    Alleluia.
Blessed he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD, his God.
Who made heaven and earth,
the sea and all that is in them.
R.    Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.
or:
R.    Alleluia.

AlleluiaSEE ACTS 16:14B

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Open our heart, O Lord,
to listen to the words of your Son.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelMT 13:47-53

Jesus said to the disciples:
“The Kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea,
which collects fish of every kind.
When it is full they haul it ashore
and sit down to put what is good into buckets.
What is bad they throw away.
Thus it will be at the end of the age.
The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous
and throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”

“Do you understand all these things?”
They answered, “Yes.”
And he replied,
“Then every scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven
is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom
both the new and the old.”
When Jesus finished these parables, he went away from there.

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Are you soft clay in God's hands?

What in your life has turned out badly? Think of something that started out well -- it looked very promising for a while -- but it ended in failure. God says in today's first reading that this is only clay. He can reshape it into something beautiful and useful. It's not disastrous.

Failure does not mean that there's no hope of success. The failure to be holy does not mean that we're hopelessly sinful. The end of a relationship or job or project or plan does not indicate that God is finished with it.

Our sins and failures and bad endings are tossed away like the junk that was collected in the dragnet of today's Gospel reading. The impurities in our clay have contributed to the warping of our spirits and the distortions or our perceptions, but if we ask God to purify us, the impurities are pulled out by his careful fingers, no faster than we can handle it, and he throws them aside.

And if our new pot still turns out misshapen, God refines us to a greater degree. If you've been feeling like you're under fire, it's probably the fires of purification. Believe it or not, you're becoming holier. As long as you want to become a beautiful vessel of God's love, the heat of your trials is not destroying you; it's purifying you.

We can help God form a wonderful, new pot by giving him no resistance. Our shape is perfected more easily if we let him spin us on his potter's wheel instead of being hard and firm in wanting to decide how and when our lives should change.

Furthermore, as we apply this to what Jesus said about the Godly scribe, we discover that the best pot is produced when we let him combine our old material with new clay and fresh water and his own coloring dyes and whatever else he wants to add into it.

God never lets anything go to waste. Many years ago, I thought I'd messed up God's plans for my life by taking a job that was not totally in keeping with his values. I quit after my conscience bothered me for several months, and I regretted that I had misspent so much time. However, God later gave me the opportunity to use the skills I had learned in doing that job, now using them for the work of his kingdom. In fact, as I let him shape my application of these skills, their usefulness for his plans has continued to increase over the years.

When we allow God to make us anew according to his desires, trusting in his expert shaping skills, giving him everything we've done in the past -- the good and the bad -- and when we invite him to add into our lives whatever he chooses, everything that had previously been a failure becomes a lovely earthen vessel that holds many treasures.

You'll know it's happened when what's inside your pot blesses others. God does not reshape us only for our own benefit. As he works with our clay, he's thinking of how he can build a pot that will benefit the whole Church as well as the world in which we live. We are that important! Being pliable clay in God's hands is that valuable!

Today's Prayer
Lord, give me the grace of taking the treasure of Your message of love to my neighbors and of rescuing souls for You throughout my life. Amen.

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God Bless You.....

The Rosary Family

The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”