We know we are traveling together. If our pace is slow, go on ahead of us. We won't envy you but rather will seek to catch up with you. However, if you consider us capable of a quicker pace, run along with us. There is only one goal, and we are all anxious to reach it....some at a slow pace and others at a fast pace. Let everyone's sighs be uttered in longing for Christ.
Let us run to Him and cry out for Him.
-- St Augustine
We know we are traveling together. If our pace is slow, go on ahead of us. We won't envy you but rather will seek to catch up with you. However, if you consider us capable of a quicker pace, run along with us. There is only one goal, and we are all anxious to reach it....some at a slow pace and others at a fast pace. Let everyone's sighs be uttered in longing for Christ.
Let us run to Him and cry out for Him.
-- St Augustine
November 26, 2020
Thursday of the
Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 506
I, John, saw another angel coming down from heaven,
having great authority,
and the earth became illumined by his splendor.
He cried out in a mighty voice:“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great.
She has become a haunt for demons.
She is a cage for every unclean spirit,
a cage for every unclean bird,
a cage for every unclean and disgusting beast.”
A mighty angel picked up a stone like a huge millstone
and threw it into the sea and said:
“With such force will Babylon the great city be thrown down,
and will never be found again.
No melodies of harpists and musicians,
flutists and trumpeters,
will ever be heard in you again.
No craftsmen in any trade
will ever be found in you again.
No sound of the millstone
will ever be heard in you again.
No light from a lamp
will ever be seen in you again.
No voices of bride and groom
will ever be heard in you again.
Because your merchants were the great ones of the world,
all nations were led astray by your magic potion.”
After this I heard what sounded like
the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying:
“Alleluia!
Salvation, glory, and might belong to our God,
for true and just are his judgments.
He has condemned the great harlot
who corrupted the earth with her harlotry.
He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”
They said a second time:
“Alleluia! Smoke will rise from her forever and ever.”
Then the angel said to me,
“Write this:
Blessed are those who have been called
to the wedding feast of the Lamb.”
Responsorial Psalm
R. (Rev. 19: 9a) Blessed are they who are called to the wedding feast of the Lamb.
Sing joyfully to
the LORD, all you lands;
serve the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful song.
R. Blessed are they who are called to the wedding feast of the Lamb.
Know that the LORD is God;
he made us, his we are;
his people, the flock he tends.
R. Blessed are they who are called to the wedding feast of the Lamb.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
his courts with praise;
Give thanks to him; bless his name.
R. Blessed are they who are called to the wedding feast of the Lamb.
For he is good:
the LORD, whose kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness, to all generations.
R. Blessed are they who are called to the wedding feast of the Lamb.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Stand erect and
raise your heads
because your
redemption is at hand.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus said to his disciples:
“When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies,
know that its desolation is at hand.
Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains.
Let those within the city escape from it,
and let those in the countryside not enter the city,
for these days are the time of punishment
when all the Scriptures are fulfilled.
Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days,
for a terrible calamity will come upon the earth
and a wrathful judgment upon this people.
They will fall by the edge of the sword
and be taken as captives to all the Gentiles;
and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles
until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
"There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars,
and on earth nations will be in dismay,
perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves.
People will die of fright
in anticipation of what is coming upon the world,
for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
And then they will see the Son of Man
coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
But when these signs begin to happen,
stand erect and raise your heads
because your redemption is at hand.”
******************************
Enjoy the Wedding Feast!
If you desire to overcome it, an angel with great authority picks it up and tosses it like a pebble into the sea. It quickly sinks into the murky depths where you can see it no longer. Not even God can see it, because the only thing he's looking at is the Jesus in you. You're glowing with the goodness you received from Jesus in your baptism. God is absolutely, totally in love with you.
This is what happens in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
"Blessed are they who are called to the wedding feast of the Lamb." In the symbolic language of the Book of Revelation, the Lamb is Christ and the wedding day is the beginning of God's reign. Every time we seek forgiveness for our sins with a sincere desire to change, we renew the vows of our wedding day. God's reign begins anew in our lives, but now more fully than ever!
This is also what happens in the Sacrament of the Eucharist if we sincerely examine our consciences before Mass and desire to become holy in Christ. The entire Liturgy is a wedding feast. At the beginning of the celebration, we put on the white wedding gown during the Penitential Rite. Then as the bride of Christ, we walk down the aisle to become one with our Lord in Holy Communion. At the final blessing, we leave the church to show our spouse to the world.
This is also what happens in the Sacrament of Marriage.
When couples live together unmarried or they wed without the sacrament, they really don't understand the Holy Communion they're denying to their relationship. Weddings are meant to be reflections of the Great Wedding Feast of the Lamb, and marriages are meant to be reflections of the union between Christ and his beloved Church.
When sacramentally united couples attend Mass together, their commitment is re-energized, the banquet of the Eucharist heals disunity and empowers them to love each other even in the most difficult of circumstances, and they are sent forth with a final blessing to show the world what Christ's undying love is like.
Regardless of whether you are married or single, divorced or widowed, priest or religious, Jesus is absolutely, totally in love with you. He wants to enjoy total communion with you! Do whatever it takes to enter fully into that union.
Today's Prayer
I thank You, Lord, because You talk to my heart and You reveal Your word to me. Give me the grace of persevering in my faith and in my charity to others till Your triumphal coming. Amen.
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God Bless You.....
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