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Lately i have been getting up early in the morning for a long walk (45 minutes to an hour) and spending the beginning part of the walk in devotional, formal prayers. Among the prayers is the recitation of the Rosary: in which one reads/meditates upon different episodes in the lives of Jesus, Mary, and the Apostles. A couple of weeks back, I was praying the Sorrowful Mysteries, in which one meditates upon the Passion -- the Agony in the Garden and the betrayal by Judas, the trial before the Sanhedrin, the trial, scourging and condemnation under Pontius Pilate, the carrying...

“‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’ Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.” Luke 12:20-21 This passage is the response from God to one who decides to make worldly wealth his goal. In this parable, the rich man had such a bountiful harvest that he decided to tear down his old barns and build bigger ones so as to store the harvest. Little did this man realize that his...

First Friday Devotion “Behold this Heart which has so loved men that it has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming itself in order to testify to its love! And in return, I receive from the greater part only ingratitude, by their irreverence and sacrilege, and by the coldness and contempt they have for Me in this Sacrament of Love. … “I feel this more than all that I suffered during My Passion. If only they would make Me some return for My Love, I should think but little of all I have done for them and would wish, were...

"When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed" (Neh 4:1). Leaders who attempt something greater than themselves will always get attacked and it often comes from those who have a vested interest in what you are changing. Nehemiah was rebuilding the ancient wall of Jerusalem. It was a major undertaking. Not everyone was pleased with this initiative. Sanballat, another government worker, did not want this to happen. When Jesus began confronting the Pharisees about religious traditions, He was attacked by the religious establishment because they had a vested interest that would be...

Morning Reading For me to live is Christ. —Philippians 1:21 The believer did not always live to Christ. He began to do so when God the Holy Spirit convinced him of sin, and when by grace he was brought to see the dying Saviour making a propitiation for his guilt. From the moment of the new and celestial birth the man begins to live to Christ. Jesus is to believers the one pearl of great price, for whom we are willing to part with all that we have. He has so completely won our love, that it beats alone for...

... Invitatory O God, make speed to save us. O Lord, make haste to help us. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

FIRST FRIDAY DEVOTION Note: On the First Fridays of each month the Double of the First Class Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus may be substituted for the feast of the day. Devotions to the MostSacred Heart of Jesus Litany of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus    KYRIE, ELEISON. R. Christe, eleison.Kyrie, eleison.Christe, audi nos. R. Christe, exaudi nos. Pater de caelis, Deus, * R. Miserere nobis. Fili, Redemptor mundi, Deus, *Spiritus Sancte, Deus, * Sancta Trinitas, unus Deus, * Cor Iesu, Filii Patris aeterni, * Cor Iesu, in sinu Virginis Matris, a Spiritu Sancto formatum,...

Overcoming Through His Presence Posted on October 31, 2010 by Jefferson H. Floyd “And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my...

Sunday Poll: When do you have your "daily devotions?" A Daily Poll.

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon...Hebrews 11:32 God chose Gideon to free the people of Israel and to condemn their idol worship (Judges 7). Gideon began with 32,000 men and God narrowed down the number to 10,000 and finally to 300 men. Three hundred men held torches and trumpets, and at Gideon's command all 300 men shouted "A sword for the Lord and Gideon" and blew their horns. The men in the camp turned on each other, and it was a complete routing for Gideon. This is one of those fascinating...

By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. Hebrews 11:31 With the exception of possibly Sarah (Hebrews 11:11), Rahab is the only woman listed by name in this long list of Faith Warriors. Rahab was not Jewish, yet she is named in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1:5. She was a known prostitute. She lied to the King's men when they came looking for the two spies. Then she asked the spies to have mercy on her and her family because of what she did for them (Joshua 2:12)...

By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days. Hebrews 11:30 I've always loved the Jericho story. I've always seen it as faith AND obedience. First, the people had to have faith that going around the walls even once was a good things. Seven priests accompanied the ark of the covenant and the people along with seven blaring trumpets. They marched around Jericho one time for six days. On the seventh day, they marched around the walls of the city seven times. On the seventh time around they shouted and "the walls...

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:16-20 Immediately before Jesus...

Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, "Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you? But Jesus remained silent. The high priest said to him, "I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God." "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied. "But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven." Matthew 26:62-64...

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. Hebrews 11:24-26 Moses could have chosen the easier route of living in Egypt as royalty and lived quite comfortably all his days. He didn't choose the "path of least resistance," but he chose to...

By faith Moses' parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king's edict. Hebrews 11:23 In Exodus 6:20 we learn Moses' and Aaron's parents' names: Amram and Jochebed. It's probably the first you've heard the names. It's intriguing to me that the book of Hebrews doesn't mention them by name. But that also encourages me that out of the millions of lives in the world, we can remain faceless and God will still know our deeds and our faith. Secondly, those parents knew...

"Some trust in chariots and some in horses." Psalm 20:7 Some trust in their 401Ks, some trust in their beauty, some trust in their talents, some trust in the military, some trust in their political party... "But we will remember the name of the Lord our God…they have bowed down and fallen, but we have risen and stand up right." Psalm 20:8 Sometimes life makes you feel like you can’t stand up right. Betrayal of a friend or coworker, sickness, grief, economic predictions of doom…what ever you may be facing... I learned from a dear friend in Sudan, who said...

For he [Abraham] was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. Hebrews 11:10 After my first extended visit overseas, I remember flying into San Francisco, my port of entry. I was 23 and had been on my own in England, and was now on my way back to Alaska. I was giddy as we came in to land. The air hostess said this immediately upon touching down, "If this is your first time in America, Welcome to the United States of America. If you are returning, welcome home!" That's it, Welcome Home! It brought...

By faith he [Abraham] made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. Hebrews 11:9 God clearly told Abraham to go to a foreign land. Everything about this new land was different for Abraham and his family. It took a long time to understand the culture and the ways of the people living there. When he was new to the land, everything was peculiar. Not bad necessarily, but different. Like many of you reading this, I have...

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. Hebrews 11:8 Abraham had no guarantees. Like many of us, he didn't know where he was going, when he'd get there, or what he would experience along the way (Genesis 12). It was certainly a faith journey, especially because he was 75 at the time, and many others also accompanied him (Genesis 12:5). It might have been easy for him to ignore the calling God had on him by making...