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June 19, 2013   Wednesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 2 Cor 9:6-11 Brothers and sisters, consider this:whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly,and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion,for God loves a cheerful giver.Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you,so that in all things, always having all you need,you may have an abundance for every good work.As it is written: He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor;his righteousness endures forever. The one who supplies seed to the sower and...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 96 A Song of Praise to God Coming in Judgment 1. Oh, sing to the LORD a new song! Sing to the LORD, all the earth. 2. Sing to the LORD, bless His name; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. 3. Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples. 4. For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. 5. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the LORD made the heavens....

June 18, 2013   Tuesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 2 Cor 8:1-9 We want you to know, brothers and sisters, of the grace of Godthat has been given to the churches of Macedonia,for in a severe test of affliction,the abundance of their joy and their profound povertyoverflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.For according to their means, I can testify,and beyond their means, spontaneously,they begged us insistently for the favor of taking partin the service to the holy ones,and this, not as we expected,but they gave themselves first to the Lordand...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 71 God the Rock of Salvation 1. In You, O LORD, I put my trust; Let me never be put to shame. 2. Deliver me in Your righteousness, and cause me to escape; Incline Your ear to me, and save me. 3. Be my strong refuge, To which I may resort continually; You have given the commandment to save me, For You are my rock and my fortress. 4. Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, Out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. 5....

Beware of Criticizing Others "Judge not, that you be not judged" —Matthew 7:1 Jesus’ instructions with regard to judging others is very simply put; He says, “Don’t.� The average Christian is the most piercingly critical individual known. Criticism is one of the ordinary activities of people, but in the spiritual realm nothing is accomplished by it. The effect of criticism is the dividing up of the strengths of the one being criticized. The Holy Spirit is the only one in the proper position to criticize, and He alone is able to show what is wrong without hurting and wounding....

June 17, 2013 Monday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 2 Cor 6:1-10 Brothers and sisters:As your fellow workers, we appeal to younot to receive the grace of God in vain.For he says: In an acceptable time I heard you,and on the day of salvation I helped you. Behold, now is a very acceptable time;behold, now is the day of salvation.We cause no one to stumble in anything,in order that no fault may be found with our ministry;on the contrary, in everything we commend ourselvesas ministers of God, through much endurance,in afflictions, hardships, constraints,beatings, imprisonments,...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 84 To the Chief Musician. On an instrument of Gath. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. 1. How lovely is Your tabernacle, O LORD of Hosts! 2. My soul longs, yes, even faints For the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. 3. Even the sparrow has found a home, And the swallow a nest for herself, Where she may lay her young— Even Your altars, O LORD of Hosts, My King and my God. 4. Blessed are those who dwell in Your...

Pray For Our American Heroes and Our Nation Psalm 102 (Excerpt) A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before the LORD. 18. This will be written for the generation to come, That a people yet to be created may praise the LORD. 19. For He looked down from the height of His sanctuary; From heaven the LORD viewed the earth, 20. To hear the groaning of the prisoner, To release those appointed to death, 21. To declare the name of the LORD in Zion, And His praise in Jerusalem, 22. When the...

June 16, 2013   Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 2 Sm 12:7-10, 13 Nathan said to David: “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king of Israel.I rescued you from the hand of Saul.I gave you your lord’s house and your lord’s wives for your own.I gave you the house of Israel and of Judah.And if this were not enough, I could count up for you still more.Why have you spurned the Lord and done evil in his sight?You have cut down Uriah the Hittite with the sword;you took his wife as your...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 92 1. IT IS A GOOD THING TO GIVE THANKS UNTO THE LORD, AND TO SING PRAISES UNTO THY NAME, O MOST HIGH: 2. To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night, 3. Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound. 4. For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands. 5. O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep. 6. A brutish...

June 15, 2013 Saturday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 2 Cor 5:14-21 Brothers and sisters:The love of Christ impels us,once we have come to the conviction that one died for all;therefore, all have died.He indeed died for all,so that those who live might no longer live for themselvesbut for him who for their sake died and was raised. Consequently, from now on we regard no one according to the flesh;even if we once knew Christ according to the flesh,yet now we know him so no longer.So whoever is in Christ is a new creation:the...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 102 A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before the LORD. 1. Hear my prayer, O LORD, And let my cry come to You. 2. Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my trouble; Incline Your ear to me; In the day that I call, answer me speedily. 3. For my days are consumed like smoke, And my bones are burned like a hearth. 4. My heart is stricken and withered like grass, So that I forget to eat my bread....

Get Moving! (1) "Abide in Me . . ." —John 15:4 In the matter of determination. The Spirit of Jesus is put into me by way of the atonement by the Cross of Christ. I then have to build my thinking patiently to bring it into perfect harmony with my Lord. God will not make me think like Jesus— I have to do it myself. I have to bring “every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ� (2 Corinthians 10:5). “Abide in Me�— in intellectual matters, in money matters, in every one of the matters that make human...

The tender moment a groom reassures his nervous wife-to-be in prayer - without catching a glimpse of her wedding dress. Weddings prove stressful for many couples, with the honeymoon offering a much welcome escape. But one candid shot of a bride and groom shows how they successfully managed to steal a moment of peace amidst the fray of their big day. The groom is seen sitting around the corner to uphold the tradition of not seeing the bride in her bridal gown. Mrs Curtas, 23, told the Daily News that she was frantically fussing over her hair and make-up in...

June 14, 2013   Friday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 2 Cor 4:7-15 Brothers and sisters:We hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained;perplexed, but not driven to despair;persecuted, but not abandoned;struck down, but not destroyed;always carrying about in the Body the dying of Jesus,so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.For we who live are constantly being given up to deathfor the sake of Jesus,so that the life of Jesus...

Pray For Our American Heroes and Our Nation Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on;...

St. Anthony, Finder of the Lost It wasn’t lost articles that he sought, but lost souls. By: Jeanne Kun Stories abound about the extraordinary events coloring the life of St. Anthony of Padua, the “wonder-worker.” Fish are said to have listened to him preach, their heads attentively raised out of the river, when the hard of heart refused to heed his words. A donkey knelt reverently before the Blessed Sacrament, convincing heretics who had challenged Anthony on Christ’s presence in the host. A severed foot was reportedly rejoined to its owner’s leg when Anthony blessed it. Statues depicting Anthony...

Romans 12:2 Be not Conformed to this World: But be ye Transformed by the Renewing of your Mind, That ye May Prove what is that Good, and Acceptable, and Perfect, Will of God.

Featured Term (selected at random):   REGENIA COELI Easter anthem, of unknown authorship, dating from the twelfth century. It has been part of the Liturgy of the Hours, to be said during the Easter season at Compline. It takes the place of the Angelus in Eastertide. The prayer reads: "O Queen of heaven rejoice Alleluia. For He whom you did merit to bear, Alleluia. Has risen as He said, Alleluia. Pray for us to God, Alleluia. Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, Alleluia. For the Lord has truly risen, Alleluia. Let us pray: O God, who by the...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 114 The Power of God in His Deliverance of Israel 1. When Israel went out of Egypt, The house of Jacob from a people of strange language, 2. Judah became His sanctuary, And Israel His dominion. 3. The sea saw it and fled; Jordan turned back. 4. The mountains skipped like rams, The little hills like lambs. 5. What ails you, O sea, that you fled? O Jordan, that you turned back? 6. O mountains, that you skipped like rams? O little hills, like lambs? 7. Tremble, O earth, at the presence...

Getting There (3) ". . . come, follow Me" —Luke 18:22 Where our individual desire dies and sanctified surrender lives. One of the greatest hindrances in coming to Jesus is the excuse of our own individual temperament. We make our temperament and our natural desires barriers to coming to Jesus. Yet the first thing we realize when we do come to Jesus is that He pays no attention whatsoever to our natural desires. We have the idea that we can dedicate our gifts to God. However, you cannot dedicate what is not yours. There is actually only one thing...

June 13, 2013 Memorial of Saint Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church   Reading 1 2 Cor 3:15—4:1, 3-6 Brothers and sisters:To this day, whenever Moses is read,a veil lies over the hearts of the children of Israel,but whenever a person turns to the Lord the veil is removed.Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.All of us, gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the Lord,are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory,as from the Lord who is the Spirit. Therefore, since...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 131 A Song of Ascents. Of David 1. LORD, my heart is not haughty, Nor my eyes lofty. Neither do I concern myself with great matters, Nor with things too profound for me. 2. Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, Like a weaned child with his mother; Like a weaned child is my soul within me. 3. O Israel, hope in the LORD From this time forth and forever.

Getting There (2) "They said to Him, ’Rabbi . . . where are You staying?’ He said to them, ’Come and see’" —John 1:38-39 Where our self-interest sleeps and the real interest is awakened. “They . . . remained with Him that day . . . .� That is about all some of us ever do. We stay with Him a short time, only to wake up to our own realities of life. Our self-interest rises up and our abiding with Him is past. Yet there is no circumstance of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus.“You are...

June 12, 2013 Wednesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 2 Cor 3:4-11 Brothers and sisters:Such confidence we have through Christ toward God.Not that of ourselves we are qualified to take creditfor anything as coming from us;rather, our qualification comes from God,who has indeed qualified us as ministers of a new covenant,not of letter but of spirit;for the letter brings death, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, was so gloriousthat the children of Israel could not look intently at the face of Mosesbecause of its...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 112 The Blessed State of the Righteous 1. Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, Who delights greatly in His commandments. 2. His descendants will be mighty on earth; The generation of the upright will be blessed. 3. Wealth and riches will be in his house, And his righteousness endures forever. 4. Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness; He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous. 5. A good man deals graciously and lends; He will guide his affairs with discretion. 6. Surely he...

Getting There (1) "Come to Me . . ." —Matthew 11:28 Where sin and sorrow stops, and the song of the saint starts. Do I really want to get there? I can right now. The questions that truly matter in life are remarkably few, and they are all answered by these words— “Come to Me.� Our Lord’s words are not, “Do this, or don’t do that,� but— “Come to me.� If I will simply come to Jesus, my real life will be brought into harmony with my real desires. I will actually cease from sin, and will find the...

June 11, 2013 Memorial of Saint Barnabas, Apostle   Reading 1 Acts 11:21b-26; 12:1-3 In those days a great number who believed turned to the Lord.The news about them reached the ears of the Church in Jerusalem,and they sent Barnabas to go to Antioch.When he arrived and saw the grace of God,he rejoiced and encouraged them allto remain faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart,for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith.And a large number of people was added to the Lord.Then he went to Tarsus to look for Saul,and when he had...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 122 A Song of AscentsOf David. 1. I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go into the house of the LORD.” 2. Our feet have been standing Within your gates, O Jerusalem! 3. Jerusalem is built As a city that is compact together, 4. Where the tribes go up, The tribes of the LORD, To the Testimony of Israel, To give thanks to the name of the LORD. 5. For thrones are set there for judgment, The thrones of the house of David. 6. Pray for the peace of...

And After That What’s Next To Do? ". . . seek, and you will find . . ." —Luke 11:9 Seek if you have not found. “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss . . .� (James 4:3). If you ask for things from life instead of from God, “you ask amiss�; that is, you ask out of your desire for self-fulfillment. The more you fulfill yourself the less you will seek God. “. . . seek, and you will find . . . .� Get to work— narrow your focus and interests to this one...

June 10, 2013   Monday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 2 Cor1:1-7 Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,and Timothy our brother,to the Church of God that is at Corinth,with all the holy ones throughout Achaia:grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,the Father of compassion and the God of all encouragement,who encourages us in our every affliction,so that we may be able to encouragethose who are in any afflictionwith the encouragement with...

June 9, 2013   Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 1 Kgs 17:17-24 Elijah went to Zarephath of Sidon to the house of a widow.The son of the mistress of the house fell sick,and his sickness grew more severe until he stopped breathing.So she said to Elijah,“Why have you done this to me, O man of God?Have you come to me to call attention to my guiltand to kill my son?”Elijah said to her, “Give me your son.”Taking him from her lap, he carried the son to the upper roomwhere he was staying, and put him on...

Then What’s Next To Do? "Everyone who asks receives . . ." —Luke 11:10 Ask if you have not received. There is nothing more difficult than asking. We will have yearnings and desires for certain things, and even suffer as a result of their going unfulfilled, but not until we are at the limit of desperation will we ask. It is the sense of not being spiritually real that causes us to ask. Have you ever asked out of the depths of your total insufficiency and poverty? “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God ....

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 120 A Song of Ascents 1. In my distress I cried to the LORD, And He heard me. 2. Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips And from a deceitful tongue. 3. What shall be given to you, Or what shall be done to you, You false tongue? 4. Sharp arrows of the warrior, With coals of the broom tree! 5. Woe is me, that I dwell in Meshech, That I dwell among the tents of Kedar! 6. My soul has dwelt too long With one who hates peace. 7. I...

Pray For Our American Heroes and Our Nation Psalm 144 A Psalm of David. 1. Blessed be the LORD my Rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle— 2. My lovingkindness and my fortress, My high tower and my deliverer, My shield and the One in whom I take refuge, Who subdues my people under me. 3. LORD, what is man, that You take knowledge of him? Or the son of man, that You are mindful of him? 4. Man is like a breath; His days are like a passing shadow. 5. Bow down Your...

Since we’re in the middle of wedding season, now seems a good time to post this picture, which apparently caused a sensation when it first appeared online a few months ago. This blog post, by the bride, explains the story behind it: she and her groom holding hands in prayer moments before their wedding, trying not to catch a glimpse of each other before the ceremony: Right around the corner sat my soon to be husband, I so was nervous he might see me yet secretly hoping to catch a glimpse of him. In my excited state I was the...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 140 To the Chief Musician.A Psalm of David. 1. Deliver me, O LORD, from evil men; Preserve me from violent men, 2. Who plan evil things in their hearts; They continually gather together for war. 3 They sharpen their tongues like a serpent; The poison of asps is under their lips. (Selah) 4. Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; Preserve me from violent men, Who have purposed to make my steps stumble. 5. The proud have hidden a snare for me, and cords; They have spread a net...

What’s Next To Do? "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them" —John 13:17 Be determined to know more than others. If you yourself do not cut the lines that tie you to the dock, God will have to use a storm to sever them and to send you out to sea. Put everything in your life afloat upon God, going out to sea on the great swelling tide of His purpose, and your eyes will be opened. If you believe in Jesus, you are not to spend all your time in the calm waters...

June 8, 2013 Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary   Reading 1 Tb 12:1, 5-15, 20 Tobit called his son Tobiah and said to him,“Son, see to it that you give what is due to the manwho made the journey with you; give him a bonus too.”So he called Raphael and said,“Take as your wages half of all that you have brought back,and go in peace.” Raphael called the two men aside privately and said to them:“Thank God! Give him the praise and the glory.Before all the living,acknowledge the many good things he has done...

Ronald Reagan said: “Sometimes when I’m faced with an atheist, I am tempted to invite him to the greatest gourmet dinner that one could ever serve, and when we have finished eating that magnificent dinner, to ask him if he believes there’s a cook.” Atheists are an interesting bunch,...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 150 Let All Things Praise the LORD 1. Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament! 2. Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness! 3. Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; Praise Him with the lute and harp! 4. Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes! 5. Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with clashing cymbals! 6. Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!

The Greatest Source of Power "Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do . . ." —John 14:13 Am I fulfilling this ministry of intercession deep within the hidden recesses of my life? There is no trap nor any danger at all of being deceived or of showing pride in true intercession. It is a hidden ministry that brings forth fruit through which the Father is glorified. Am I allowing my spiritual life to waste away, or am I focused, bringing everything to one central point— the atonement of my Lord? Is Jesus Christ more and more...

June 7, 2013   Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus   Reading 1 Ez 34:11-16 Thus says the Lord GOD:I myself will look after and tend my sheep.As a shepherd tends his flockwhen he finds himself among his scattered sheep,so will I tend my sheep.I will rescue them from every place where they were scatteredwhen it was cloudy and dark.I will lead them out from among the peoplesand gather them from the foreign lands;I will bring them back to their own countryand pasture them upon the mountains of Israelin the land's ravines and all its inhabited places.In...

Pray For Our American Heroes and Our Nation Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. Isaiah 58:12 (NIV) ----

Job 10:12 Thou hast Given me Life and Grace: And Thy Visitation hath Preserved my Spirit.

Both problems listed have a prominent place in our armed forces currently. Now this is pure speculation on my part, but the culture seems to have changed quite a bit in the last seven decades to more easily allow these issues to arise. Sixty nine years ago it was the evening of D-Day. Omar Bradley could say that the initial crisis had passed. The American assault troops had broken through the first wall of German fortifications, though Omaha and Utah beaches were still separated. The success of the paratroop drop was unknown. The fact the Germans had been unable to...

“Work Out” What God “Works in” You ". . . work out your own salvation . . . for it is God who works in you . . ." —Philippians 2:12-13 Your will agrees with God, but in your flesh there is a nature that renders you powerless to do what you know you ought to do. When the Lord initially comes in contact with our conscience, the first thing our conscience does is awaken our will, and our will always agrees with God. Yet you say, “But I don’t know if my will is in agreement with God.�...

June 6, 2013   Thursday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 Tb 6:10-11; 7:1bcde, 9-17; 8:4-9a When the angel Raphael and Tobiah had entered Media and were getting close to Ecbatana,Raphael said to the boy,“Tobiah, my brother!”He replied: “Here I am!”He said: “Tonight we must stay with Raguel, who is a relative of yours.He has a daughter named Sarah.” So he brought him to the house of Raguel,whom they found seated by his courtyard gate.They greeted him first.He said to them, “Greetings to you too, brothers!Good health to you, and welcome!”And he brought them into...

Roy Costner IV, a former public school student from South Carolina, stunned the audience at his high school graduation last weekend when he ripped up his previously-approved valedictorian speech, going on, instead, to speak about God — and then deliver the Lord’s prayer. The act, which drew loud applause, was taken in opposition to the School District of Pickens County’s decision to axe prayers from graduation events, Christian News reports. Officials said that they had recently received complaints from atheist activists and church-state separatists, leading to the removal of invocations from all school events. But that didn’t stop Costner. The...