"Never give up prayer, and should you find dryness and difficulty, persevere in it for this very reason." St. John of the Cross
Water refreshes in the desert, in the desert of prayer God will refresh you, preserve the oasis is close at hand.
May God Be Praised.
C.S. Lewis famously wrote, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”
A powerful insight to reflect on as this year.
May God Be Praised.
Pray with the Blessed Mother during Advent, Christmas, Ordinary, Lent, Easter and Times as the Journey Unfolds.
And so we join with the Blessed Mother and Pray:
We Hope for Peace.
We Wait for Joy.
We Long for Christ’s Love.
We Await Eternity. Amen.
May God Be Praised.
A Beautiful Surprise.
Fr.
Pedro Arupe shared this story, “After Mass, a big
fellow whose looks could have inspired fear came up to me and said, ‘Come to
my house. I have something to honor you.’ I remained uncertain, not knowing
whether I should accept or not, but the priest who was accompanying me said, ‘Go
with him, Father. The people are very good.’
So I went to his house, which was a half-falling shack, and he made me sit
down on a rickety chair. From where I was seated, the sun could be seen as it
was setting. The fellow said to me, ‘Señor, see how beautiful it is,’
and we remained silent for some minutes.
The sun disappeared. The man added, ‘I did not know how to thank you for all that you have done for us. I have nothing to give you, but I thought you'd like to see the sunset. It pleased you, didn't it? Have a good evening.’ He then gave me his hand. As I was leaving, I thought, ‘I have met very few hearts that are so kind.’ [Excerpt from an address by Pedro Arrupe, S.J., to the Eucharistic Youth Movement in September 1979.]
Reflect on the times a simple gesture was offered to you and how you received it.
May God Be Praised.
The Long View
One day the Jesus will wipe away every tear when each sunset, and each heartache will become a sunrise and the eternity of joy will surround us. Lord, let Your light be my guidance and scatter my darkness. Your light is light itself.
*Brother Mickey McGrath’s artwork is available at: https://www.bromickeymcgrath.com/
May God Be Praised.
I heard a voice proclaiming from the throne: Now God has a dwelling place among men, and he will live with them; they will be his people and he, their God, will be with them.
The Lord will cast down death for ever and wipe the tears from every face. They will be his people and he, their God, will be with them. [Revelation 21:3; Isaiah 25:8]
Reflect on what will be the wonderful gift of eternity with the Lord.
May God Be Praised.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” [John’s Gospel 1:1] The Gospels of Matthew and Luke present the genealogies of Jesus, His human and kingly lineage, but the Gospel of John emphasizes Jesus’ divinity.
John announces that Jesus is the Word made flesh, Who speaks the Father’s love. One way to ponder this is the Father thinks the Love, the Son, Jesus, lives the Love, and the Holy Spirit breathes the Love.
And so, we have the courage to pray, Heavenly Father, grant me the grace to desire to know Your Son, Jesus Who is the Lord, give me the Grace to accept the Holy Spirit to guide my actions today and every day. Amen.
May God Be Praised.
Happy St. Francis de Sales Feast Day.
"... God does not love us out of self-interest but for our good. Our love is useless to Him, but it brings us great profit! If it pleases Him, it is because it is profitable to us."
Today we should live "... as though our spirit is already in Heaven."
Pray de Sales’ Direction of Intention: “My God, I give you this day. I offer you, now, all of the good that I shall do … and I promise to accept, for love of you, all of the difficulty that I shall meet. Help me to conduct myself during this day In a manner [most] pleasing to you.”
May God Be Praised.
Hear my Prayer.
“Lord, listen to my prayer: turn your ear to my appeal. You are faithful, you are just; give
answer."
Open my heart to hear Your answer, to accept Your answer and finally to love your answer.
May God Be Praised.
“Life is like a voyage on the sea of history, often dark and stormy, a voyage in which we watch for the stars that indicate the route. The true stars of our life are the people who have lived good lives. They are the lights of hope.
*
Certainly, Jesus Christ is the true light, the sun that has risen above all the shadows of history. But to reach him we also need lights close by – people who shine with his light and so guide us along our way.” (Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI)
May God Be Praised!
*Brother Mickey McGrath’s artwork is available at: https://www.bromickeymcgrath.com/
Homily Cycle B Offered at OLPH 1/21/2024.
Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/012124.cfm
As we began Mass, Fr. Marty prayed to God, “... direct our actions according to your good pleasure, that in the name of your beloved Son we may abound in good works....”
This story is called Chosen Early, maybe some of us can relate to it. It is about the childhood pain of being chosen last for a baseball team. All the favorites are chosen, “the captains are down to their last grudging choices: a slow kid for catcher, someone to stick out in right field where nobody hits it. They choose the last ones two at a time … ‘If I take him, then you gotta take him,’ they say.” Just once, we would like to be chosen first. Just once, we would like to avoid the agony of waiting & waiting until everyone else has been selected. Just once, we would like to hear our name called with enthusiasm and excitement. [Proclaim Parish Publishing Garrison Keillor, Lake Wobegon Days, p. 181].
Well, each one of us was CHOSEN First - when we were Baptized. We are so valuable to God, He sent His Son to choose you and me, Jesus chose each one of us enthusiastically and with great Love. Called to know and love God so we can share the Good News with each person we meet. And that Message today can be summarized this way: Chosen, Good News, Believe and Repent.
The Good News is we have been Chosen, to Believe, to Repent, to Live our lives in the promise of Jesus. A life of hope and peace, St. Paul tells [the Corinthians] us “For the world in its present form is passing away.” He, also, teaches us “Do not conform your selves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.”
Jonah was called by God to go to the great city of Nineveh and announce God’s message of Repentance. What you would do if God called you to go to Russia and Ukraine, or to Gaza and Israel, or to Africa where there are 35 armed conflicts or into our cities and towns to announce a message of repentance? Today's we are reminded to Repent, to make sure God is first in our lives, our actions, our words, to review what kind of our Disciple we are committed to being!
Let me share another story w/ you, “Where is God”? A couple had two sons, ages 8 and 10, who were very mischievous, and the parents knew that if any misconduct occurred in their town, their boys were probably involved.
The boys' mother heard that a clergyman in town was successful in dealing with children, she asked him to speak to her boys. He agreed but asked to see them individually. Mom sent her 8-year-old in the morning, the older boy in the afternoon.
The clergyman, a huge man with a booming voice, sat the younger boy down and asked him sternly, "Where is God?" The boy's mouth opened, but he made no response; so, the clergyman raised his voice & shook his finger and bellowed, "Where is God?" The boy bolted from the room, ran home slamming the door behind him and dove into his closet.
When his older brother found him, he said, "What happened?" The younger brother said "We're in Big trouble this time. God is missing, and they think we did it!"
You and I know that God is not missing, He is busy calling us personally, the way He called Jonah, Paul, Simon, Andrew, James and John. Christ calls fisherman, doctors, cooks, teachers, students, clergy, bankers; He calls each one of us. We are called to live and share the Gospel Message in our world, for our families, our friends and ourselves.
We live in turbulent and unsettled times, Jesus has given us the Good News to guide our lives toward eternal life as we share His Gospel Message to share. Think about our Responsorial psalm, “Teach me your ways, O Lord…. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior.” [Psalm 25]
Spend a few minutes reflecting on How will you answer Jesus’ Call, the God who is your Savior?
May God Be Praised!
“You know, there ought to be a prize today for people who make excuses – because I think we’d all win something. We are in the habit today of making excuses. And because our faith is weak, we excuse ourselves from answering God’s call, from doing God’s will, from listening to the Church, from listening to the Gospel.” [Mother Angelica, p. 15, Guide to the Spiritual Life]
Resolve to follow the God’s Will today without making any excuses.
May God Be Praised.
St. Therese of Lisieux said, “[Jesus] burns with the desire to come into your heart."
Today spend some time cultivating a grateful heart, allow the Heart of Jesus to overshadow your heart and absorb it into His.
May God Be Praised.
The Prophet Isaiah Peace
**
“He [the Lord] shall judge between the nations and impose
terms on many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning
hooks;
One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for
war again.” [From Isaiah 2]
May the Lord’s peace be in your family and in our world.
May God Be Praised.
**You can find Kelly Latimore’s work at https://kellylatimoreicons.com/