THE COMMEMORATION OF ALL THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED (ALL SOULS) & SAINT QUOTE OF THE DAY : Wednesday - November 02, 2022

 

Wednesday - November 02, 2022

Remember that the Christian life is one of action; not of speech and daydreams.  Let there be few words and many deeds, and them be done well.

-- St. Vincent Pallotti

 

November 2, 2022

 

The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed
(All Souls)
Lectionary: 668

Reading 1WIS 3:1-9

The souls of the just are in the hand of God,
and no torment shall touch them.
They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead;
and their passing away was thought an affliction
and their going forth from us, utter destruction.
But they are in peace.
For if before men, indeed, they be punished,
yet is their hope full of immortality;
chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed,
because God tried them
and found them worthy of himself.
As gold in the furnace, he proved them,
and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself.
In the time of their visitation they shall shine,
and shall dart about as sparks through stubble;
they shall judge nations and rule over peoples,
and the LORD shall be their King forever.
Those who trust in him shall understand truth,
and the faithful shall abide with him in love:
because grace and mercy are with his holy ones,
and his care is with his elect.

Responsorial PsalmPS 23:1-3A, 3B-4, 5, 6

R. (1) The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
or:
R. Though I walk in the valley of darkness, I fear no evil, for you are with me.
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. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
or:
R. Though I walk in the valley of darkness, I fear no evil, for you are with me.
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. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
or:
R. Though I walk in the valley of darkness, I fear no evil, for you are with me.
You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
or:
R. Though I walk in the valley of darkness, I fear no evil, for you are with me.
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. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
or:
R. Though I walk in the valley of darkness, I fear no evil, for you are with me.

Reading 2ROM 6:3-9

Brothers and sisters:
Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus 
were baptized into his death?
We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, 
so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead 
by the glory of the Father, 
we too might live in newness of life.

For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his, 
we shall also be united with him in the resurrection.
We know that our old self was crucified with him, 
so that our sinful body might be done away with, 
that we might no longer be in slavery to sin.
For a dead person has been absolved from sin.
If, then, we have died with Christ,
we believe that we shall also live with him.
We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more;
death no longer has power over him.

AlleluiaMT 25:34

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Come, you who are blessed by my Father;
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelJN 6:37-40

Jesus said to the crowds:
"Everything that the Father gives me will come to me,
and I will not reject anyone who comes to me,
because I came down from heaven not to do my own will
but the will of the one who sent me.
And this is the will of the one who sent me,
that I should not lose anything of what he gave me,
but that I should raise it on the last day.
For this is the will of my Father,
that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him
may have eternal life,
and I shall raise him on the last day."

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WILL YOU GET TO HEAVEN?

Do you sometimes wonder if you'll ruin your salvation and never get to heaven? In John 6:37-40, Jesus says: "Everything that the Father gives me will come to me."

He's referring to you! God the Father has given you to Jesus so that Jesus can lead you to heaven.

During your baptism, our Father in heaven said to Jesus: "Here Son, take good care of this one. Make sure he/she is going to make it home to heaven okay."

Jesus replied, "I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I do your will."

What the Father wants, the Father gets, unless the recipients of his love reject all of his efforts to bring them to heaven.

This is equally true for your deceased loved ones. If they had any desire to be with Jesus while they were on earth, they of course - more than ever - wanted to be with him at the moment of death as he stood before them in the fullness of his love.

When we meet Jesus face to face, everything becomes clear. We regret the sins that we have not yet purged from our lives, and Jesus lets us choose purgatory as a completely thorough purification process so that we can live eternally in the fullness of God's love.

Let's keep in mind, though, that the fire of love today and throughout our earth-bound life is more sanctifying than the fire of purgatory. By purifying how well we love now - loving others even when it's difficult, forgiving others as often as they sin, and giving ourselves generously to the needs of others - we unite ourselves to God's love.

St. Therese of Lisieux said that God prefers that we never experience the sufferings of purgatory. "As soon as you try to please him in everything and have an unshakable trust, he purifies you every moment in his love and he lets no sin remain. And then you can be sure that you will not have to go to purgatory."

Today's Prayer

Thank You, Heavenly Father, for entrusting my life to Jesus. I think I'll see Your face in the end, thanks to Your endless mercy. Amen.

 

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!”

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY : All Saints Day - Tuesday - November 01, 2022

Tuesday - November 01, 2022

The Saints rejoiced at injuries and persecutions, because in forgiving them they had something to present to God when they prayed to Him.

-- St. Teresa of Avila

 

November 1, 2021

 

« October 31  |  November 2 »

Solemnity of All Saints
Lectionary: 667

Reading 1RV 7:2-4, 9-14

I, John, saw another angel come up from the East,
holding the seal of the living God.
He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels
who were given power to damage the land and the sea,
"Do not damage the land or the sea or the trees
until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God."
I heard the number of those who had been marked with the seal,
one hundred and forty-four thousand marked
from every tribe of the children of Israel.

After this I had a vision of a great multitude,
which no one could count,
from every nation, race, people, and tongue.
They stood before the throne and before the Lamb,
wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.
They cried out in a loud voice:

"Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne,
and from the Lamb."

All the angels stood around the throne
and around the elders and the four living creatures.
They prostrated themselves before the throne,
worshiped God, and exclaimed:

"Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving,
honor, power, and might
be to our God forever and ever. Amen."

Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me,
"Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?"
I said to him, "My lord, you are the one who knows."
He said to me,
"These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress;
they have washed their robes
and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb."

Responsorial PsalmPS 24:1BC-2, 3-4AB, 5-6

R. (see 6) Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
The LORD's are the earth and its fullness;
the world and those who dwell in it.
For he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD?
or who may stand in his holy place?
One whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean,
who desires not what is vain.
R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
He shall receive a blessing from the LORD,
a reward from God his savior.
Such is the race that seeks him,
that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.
R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.

Reading 21 JN 3:1-3

Beloved:
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.

AlleluiaMT 11:28

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelMT 5:1-12A

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain,
and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. 
He began to teach them, saying:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you
and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me.
Rejoice and be glad,
for your reward will be great in heaven."

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YOU are a Saint!

YOU are a saint. Don't argue with me, I know you're a saint, because a saint is anyone who's either in heaven or on their way to heaven by following Christ. In the Apostle's Creed we say, "I believe in the communion of saints...." That includes you! It's the whole community of Christ-followers.

As followers of Christ, we have been redeemed from the power of sin. We have been reborn as "saints" and are no longer "sinners." Yes, we do sin every day; we have not yet perfected our sainthood. So we grow in holiness by becoming more and more who we truly are. This is life as an earthly saint.

Look at today's first reading. We could see this as a huge prayer meeting in heaven, but it's not just about the after-life. You, right now, are part of that "great multitude" when you worship God enthusiastically. Every time we praise God, we're joining ourselves to the whole communion of saints, including our loved ones who left earth in the Lord's arms.

We're also united to them after our sins are absolved in the mercy of God through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, for then we, too, have "washed our robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." Until the next time we sin, we're on the Lord's mountain, standing in a holy place, because our hands are sinless, our hearts are clean, and we are not desiring what is vain (as the responsorial Psalm says).

The same unity occurs when we receive the Eucharist after making a heartfelt journey through the prayers of repentance and requests for forgiveness that the Church provides during each Mass. (Oops, until we get mad at the guy in the parking lot who briefly blocks our escape from church into the world.)

As the second reading points out, we are saints because we are God's children. The saints in heaven have the advantage of being free from evil, while we live in a sin-filled world. But notice how we become pure: The hope (i.e., belief in God's promise) that eventually we'll behave like Christ all the time should energize us to purge our lives of unholiness now. This hope is based on knowing that Christ redeems us from sin, the Father forgives us, and after death, whatever clean-up still remains to be done, it will be accomplished thanks to purgatory.

The Gospel reading reminds us that we are saints because we are blessed. Isn't anything that God blesses made holy? Therefore, any person whom God blesses is made holy by his love: the poor in spirit, those who mourn and receive the Holy Spirit's comfort, the meek who submit to God's will, and so on down the list of beatitudes. Meditate on each blessing and notice your sainthood and the challenge to become more saintly by improving how you live the truth of each beatitude.

The Church canonizes saints so we can have role models and so we know they're available for prayer support to assist us on our journey to heaven. We should not compare our lives to theirs, however, for we all have different circumstances in which to grow in holiness. We can only compare ourselves to what we used to be like. Meanwhile, we can pray with the saints and accept their spiritual guidance.

 

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!”

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY - Monday - October 31, 2022

 

Monday - October 31, 2022

The rosary is said not with the lips alone, muttering Hail Marys one after the other. … For a Christian vocal prayer must spring from the heart, so that while the rosary is said, the mind can enter into contemplation of each one of the mysteries.

-- St. Josemaria Escriva

 

October 31, 2022

Monday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 485

 

Reading I     

                                                                                    Phil 2:1-4

 

Brothers and sisters:

If there is any encouragement in Christ,

any solace in love,

any participation in the Spirit,

any compassion and mercy,

complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love,

united in heart, thinking one thing.

Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory;

rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves,

each looking out not for his own interests,

but also everyone for those of others.

 

Responsorial Psalm                                  Ps 131:1bcde, 2, 3

 

R. In you, O Lord, I have found my peace.

 

O LORD, my heart is not proud,

nor are my eyes haughty;

I busy not myself with great things,

nor with things too sublime for me.

R. In you, O Lord, I have found my peace.

Nay rather, I have stilled and quieted

my soul like a weaned child.

Like a weaned child on its mother's lap,

so is my soul within me.

R. In you, O Lord, I have found my peace.

O Israel, hope in the LORD,

both now and forever.

R. In you, O Lord, I have found my peace.

 

Alleluia                                              Phil 2:8          Jn 8:31b-32

 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples,

and you will know the truth, says the Lord.

R. Alleluia

 

Gospel                                                           Lk 14:12-14

 

On a sabbath Jesus went to dine

at the home of one of the leading Pharisees.

He said to the host who invited him,

"When you hold a lunch or a dinner,

do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters

or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors,

in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.

Rather, when you hold a banquet,

invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind;

blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.

For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

 

**********************************

 

FINDING AND PLUGGING OUR PRIDE-LEAKS

We’re humble enough to recognize that we have too much pride, aren’t we? Truly, you and I prefer to be humble and holy; that’s why we put so much effort into our spiritual growth. And yet (sigh), pride is everyone’s number one failing, isn’t it. Why can’t we get through just one day totally humble?

 

As soon as we think that we’ve overcome pride, it finds another way to leak out of us. We could humbly make a loving sacrifice by doing a good deed to someone and, when thanked for it, give the glory to God, but in the next moment pridefully “appreciate” the fact that we are more loving, i.e., “better”, than those who don’t do the same.

 

Sure, but don’t forget that humility includes being patient with ourselves as we find and plug our pride-leaks, one at a time, day after day. Humility grows; we can’t switch it on like a light bulb.

 

In today’s first reading, Saint Paul lists some of the harmful effects of pride: Rivalry and conceit cause division and disunity, breaking the bonds of love. And he names the cure: We must consider others as more important than ourselves. Keep in mind, please, that he’s not talking about an inferiority attitude, in which we lose sight of the equality of all people, including ourselves. It’s not humble to treat ourselves poorly. To do so is to mock the Father who created us, implying that he made a mistake with us.

 

Rather, Paul is showing us that when we rise above our selfishness to serve others, Christ’s love is at work in us, ministering to others through us, and we all feel better.

 

Jesus, too, gives us a cure for pride in the Gospel reading. When we give without expecting anything in return, we’re immersed in humility. We overcome pride by doing for others what they cannot do for us. Similarly, when others do good to us, pride insists that we reciprocate, but humility means accepting the gift as a free gesture of love.

 

Today’s responsorial Psalm gives us the key to humility: We can say, “O Lord, my heart is not proud” because, “In you, Lord, I have found my peace.” Humility is recognizing that God is in everything that’s good and holy. Humility says: “I am good and I do good because the Lord is good, and it is he who does good works in me and through me.” Pride, on the other hand, says, “Look at me! Look at what I’ve done!” Period.

 

Daily, we need to pray for the grace to find and plug our pride-leaks. If you can get to weekday Masses, you’ve got a built-in opportunity to plug holes every day, the Penitential Rite when we call to mind our sins and ask Mary and all the angels and saints and all of our brothers and sisters to pray for us. It’s one of the main reasons why I go to daily Mass.

 

Today's Prayer

 

Beloved Lord: Give me the humility and detachment I need to seek for the good of my neighbors, just for the sake of love waiting for nothing in return. Amen.

 

 

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!”