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Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 02-26-15
USCCB.org/RNAB ^ | 02-26-15 | Revised New American Bible

Posted on 02/25/2015 8:08:50 PM PST by Salvation

February 26, 2015

Thursday of the First Week in Lent

 

 

Reading 1 Est C:12, 14-16, 23-25

Queen Esther, seized with mortal anguish,
had recourse to the LORD.
She lay prostrate upon the ground, together with her handmaids,
from morning until evening, and said:
“God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, blessed are you.
Help me, who am alone and have no help but you,
for I am taking my life in my hand.
As a child I used to hear from the books of my forefathers
that you, O LORD, always free those who are pleasing to you.
Now help me, who am alone and have no one but you,
O LORD, my God.

“And now, come to help me, an orphan.
Put in my mouth persuasive words in the presence of the lion
and turn his heart to hatred for our enemy,
so that he and those who are in league with him may perish.
Save us from the hand of our enemies;
turn our mourning into gladness
and our sorrows into wholeness.”

Responsorial Psalm Ps 138:1-2ab, 2cde-3, 7c-8

R. (3a) Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple
and give thanks to your name.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
Because of your kindness and your truth;
for you have made great above all things
your name and your promise.
When I called, you answered me;
you built up strength within me.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
Your right hand saves me.
The LORD will complete what he has done for me;
your kindness, O LORD, endures forever;
forsake not the work of your hands.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.

Verse Before the Gospel Ps 51:12a, 14a

A clean heart create for me, O God;
give me back the joy of your salvation.

Gospel Mt 7:7-12

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Which one of you would hand his son a stone
when he asked for a loaf of bread,
or a snake when he asked for a fish?
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your heavenly Father give good things
to those who ask him.

“Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.
This is the law and the prophets.”



TOPICS: Catholic; General Discusssion; Prayer; Worship
KEYWORDS: catholic; lent; mt7; prayer
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To: All
Our true worth does not consist in what human beings think of us. What we really are consists in what God knows us to be.

-- Saint John Berchmans

21 posted on 02/25/2015 9:20:06 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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Just A Minute Just A Minute (Listen)
Some of EWTN's most popular hosts and guests in a collection of one minute inspirational messages. A different message each time you click.

22 posted on 02/25/2015 9:21:09 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All



The Angelus 

The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary: 
And she conceived of the Holy Spirit. 

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. 

Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it done unto me according to Thy word. 

Hail Mary . . . 

And the Word was made Flesh: And dwelt among us. 

Hail Mary . . . 


Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. 

Let us pray: 

Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection, through the same Christ Our Lord.

Amen. 


23 posted on 02/25/2015 9:21:36 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Salvation

Thanks or the new tagline.


24 posted on 02/26/2015 6:05:22 AM PST by Mrs. Don-o ("Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the law and the prophets." Matt. 7:12)
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To: Salvation
Matthew
  English: Douay-Rheims Latin: Vulgata Clementina Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
  Matthew 7
7 Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you. Petite, et dabitur vobis : quærite, et invenietis : pulsate, et aperietur vobis. αιτειτε και δοθησεται υμιν ζητειτε και ευρησετε κρουετε και ανοιγησεται υμιν
8 For every one that asketh, receiveth: and he that seeketh, findeth: and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. Omnis enim qui petit, accipit : et qui quærit, invenit : et pulsanti aperietur. πας γαρ ο αιτων λαμβανει και ο ζητων ευρισκει και τω κρουοντι ανοιγησεται
9 Or what man is there among you, of whom if his son shall ask bread, will he reach him a stone? Aut quis est ex vobis homo, quem si petierit filius suus panem, numquid lapidem porriget ei ? η τις εστιν εξ υμων ανθρωπος ον εαν αιτηση ο υιος αυτου αρτον μη λιθον επιδωσει αυτω
10 Or if he shall ask him a fish, will he reach him a serpent? aut si piscem petierit, numquid serpentem porriget ei ? και εαν ιχθυν αιτηση μη οφιν επιδωσει αυτω
11 If you then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children: how much more will your Father who is in heaven, give good things to them that ask him? Si ergo vos, cum sitis mali, nostis bona data dare filiis vestris : quanto magis Pater vester, qui in cælis est, dabit bona petentibus se ? ει ουν υμεις πονηροι οντες οιδατε δοματα αγαθα διδοναι τοις τεκνοις υμων ποσω μαλλον ο πατηρ υμων ο εν τοις ουρανοις δωσει αγαθα τοις αιτουσιν αυτον
12 All things therefore whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you also to them. For this is the law and the prophets. Omnia ergo quæcumque vultis ut faciant vobis homines, et vos facite illis. Hæc est enim lex, et prophetæ. παντα ουν οσα αν θελητε ινα ποιωσιν υμιν οι ανθρωποι ουτως και υμεις ποιειτε αυτοις ουτος γαρ εστιν ο νομος και οι προφηται

25 posted on 02/26/2015 7:25:52 AM PST by annalex (fear them not)
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To: annalex
7. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you:
8. For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened.

JEROME; Having before forbidden us to pray for things of the flesh, He now shows what we ought to ask, saying, Ask, and it shall be given you.

AUG. Otherwise; when He commanded not to give the holy thing to dogs, and not to cast pearls before swine, the hearer conscious of his own ignorance might say, Why do you thus bid me not give the holy thing to dogs, when as yet I see not that I have any holy thing? He therefore adds in good season, Ask, and you shall receive.

PSEUD-CHRYS. Otherwise; Having given them some commands for the sanctification of prayer, saying, Judge not, He adds accordingly, Ask, and it shall be given to you, as though He were to say, If you observe this mercy towards your enemies, whatever seems to you shut, knock, and it shall be opened to you. Ask therefore in prayer, praying day and night; seek with care and toil; for neither by toiling only in the Scriptures do we gain knowledge without God's grace, nor do we attain to grace without study, lest the gift of God should be bestowed on the careless. But knock with prayer, and fasting, and alms. For as one who knocks at a door, not only cries out with his voice, but strikes with his hand, so he who does good works, knocks with his works. But you will say, this is what I pray that I may know and do, how then can I do it, before I receive? Do what you can that you may become able to do more, and keep what you know that you may come to know more. Or otherwise; having above commanded all men to love their enemies, and after enjoined that we should not under pretext of love give holy things to dogs; He here gives good counsel, that they should pray God for them, and it shall be granted them; let them seek out those that are lost in sins, and they shall find them; let them knock at those who are shut up in errors, and God shall open to them that their word may have access to their souls. Or otherwise; Since the precepts given above were beyond the reach of human virtue, He sends them to God to whose grace nothing is impossible, saying, Ask, and it shall be given you, that what cannot be performed by men may be fulfilled through the grace of God. For when God furnished the other animals with swift foot, or swift wing, with claws, teeth, or horns, He so made man that He Himself should be man's only strength, that forced by reason of his own weakness, he might always have need of his Lord.

GLOSS. We ask with faith, we seek with hope, we knock with love. You must first ask that you may have; after that seek that you may find; and lastly, observe what you have found that you may enter in.

AUG. Asking, is that we may get healthiness of soul that we may be able to fulfill the things commanded us; seeking, pertains to the discovery of the truth. But when any has found the true way, He will then come into actual possession, which however is only opened to him that knocks.

ID. How these three differ from one another, I have thought good to unfold with this travail; but it were better to refer them all to instant prayer; wherefore He afterwards concludes, saying, He will give good things to them that ask him.

CHRYS. And in that He adds seek, and knock, He bids us ask with much importunateness and strength. For one who seeks, casts forth all other things from his mind, and is turned to that thing singly which He seeks; and he that knocks comes with vehemence and warm soul.

PSEUD-CHRYS. He had said, Ask, and you shall receive; Which sinners hearing might perchance say, The Lord herein exhorts them that are worthy, but we are unworthy. Therefore He repeats it that He may commend the mercy of God to die righteous as well as to sinners; and therefore declares that every one that asks receives; that is, whether he be righteous or a sinner, let him not hesitate to ask; that it may be fully seen that none is neglected but he who hesitates to ask of God. For it is not credible that God should enjoin on men that work of piety which is displayed in doing good to our enemies, and should not Himself (being good) act so.

AUG. Wherefore God hears sinners; for if He do not hear sinners, the Publican said in vain, Lord, be merciful to me a sinner; and by that confession inherited justification.

ID. He who in faith offers supplication to God for the necessities of this life is heard mercifully, and not heard mercifully. For the physician knows better than the sick man what is good for his sickness. But if he asks that which God both promises and commands, his prayer shall be granted, for love shall receive what truth provides.

ID. But the Lord is good, who often gives us not what we would, that He may give us what we should rather prefer.

ID. There is moreover of perseverance, that we may receive what we ask for.

ID. In that God sometimes delays His gifts, He but recommends, and does not deny them. For that which is long looked for is sweeter when obtained; but that is held cheap, which comes at once. Ask then and seek things righteous. For by asking and seeking grows the appetite of taking. God reserves for you those things which He is not willing to give you at once, that you may learn greatly to desire great things. Therefore we ought always to pray and not to fail.

9. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a Stone?
10. Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a Serpent?
11. If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

AUG. As above He had cited the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, that our hopes may rise from the less to the greater; so also does He in this place, when He says, Or what man among you?

PSEUD-CHRYS. Lest perchance any one considering how great is the difference between God and man, and weighing his own sins should despair of obtaining, and so never take in hand to ask; therefore He proposes a comparison of the relation between father and son; that should we despair because of our sins, we may hope because of God's fatherly goodness.

CHRYS. There are two things necessary for one that prays; that he ask earnestly; and that he ask such things as he ought to ask. And those are spiritual things; as Solomon, because he asked such things as were right, received speedily.

PSEUD-CHRYS. And what are the things that we ought to ask, he shows under the likeness of a loaf, and a fish. The loaf is the word concerning the knowledge of God the Father The stone is all falsehood that has a stumbling block of offense to the soul.

REMIG. By the fish we may understand the word Concerning Christ, by the serpent the Devil himself or by the loaf' may be understood spiritual doctrine; by the stone ignorance; by the fish the water of Holy baptism; by the serpent the wiles of the Devil, or unbelief.

RABAN. Or, bread which is the common food signifies charity, without which the other virtues are of no avail. The fish signifies faith, which is born of the water of baptism, is tossed in the midst of the waves of this life and yet lives. Luke adds a third thing, an egg, which signifies hope, for an egg is the hope of the animal. To charity, He opposes a stone, that is, the hardness of hatred; to faith, a serpent, that is, the venom of treachery; to hope, a scorpion, that is, despair, which stings backward, as the scorpion.

REMIG. The sense therefore is; we need not fear that should we ask of God our Father breach, that is doctrine or love, He will give us a stone; that is, that He will suffer our heart to be contracted either by the frost of hatred or by hardness of soul; or that when we ask for faith, He will suffer us to die of the poison of unbelief. Thence it follows, If then you being evil.

CHRYS. This He said not detracting from human nature, nor confessing the whole human race to be evil; but He calls paternal love evil when compared with His own goodness. Such is the superabundance of His love towards men.

PSEUD-CHRYS. Because in comparison of God who is preeminently good, all men seem to be evil, as all light shows dark when compared with the sun.

JEROME; Or perhaps He called the Apostles evil, in their person condemning the whole human race, whose heart is set to evil from his infancy, as we read in Genesis. Nor is it any wonder that He should call this generation evil, as the Apostle also speaks, Seeing the days are evil.

AUG. Or; He calls evil those Who are lovers of this age; whence also the good things which they give are to be called good according to their sense who esteem them as good; nay, even in the nature of things they are goods, that is, temporal goods, and such as pertain to this weak life.

ID. For that good thing which makes men good is God. Gold and silver are good things not as making you good, but as with them you may do good. If then we be evil, yet as having a Father who is good let us not remain ever evil.

AUG. If then we being evil, know how to give that which is asked of us, how much more is it to be hoped that God will give us good things when we ask Him?

PSEUDO-CHRYS. He says good things, because God does not give all things to them that ask Him, but only good things.

GLOSS. For from God we receive only such things as are good, of what kind they may seem to us when we receive them; for all things work together for good to His beloved.

REMIG, And be it known that where Matthew says, He shall give good things, Luke has, shall give his Holy Spirit. But this ought not to seem contrary, because all the good things which man receives from God, are given by the grace of the Holy Spirit.

12. Therefore all things whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you even so to them: for this is the Law and the Prophets.

AUG. Firmness and strength of walking by the way of wisdom in good habits is thus set before us, by which men are brought to purity and simplicity of heart; concerning which having spoken a long time, He thus concludes, All things whatsoever you would, &c. For there is no man who would that another should act towards him with a double heart.

PSEUDO-CHRYS. Otherwise; He had above commanded us in order to sanctify our prayers that men should not judge those who sin against them. Then breaking the thread of his discourse He had introduced various other matters, wherefore now when He returns to the command with which He had begun, He says, All things whatsoever you would, &c. That is; I not only command that you judge not, but All things whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you to them; and then you will be able to pray so as to obtain.

GLOSS, Otherwise; The Holy Spirit is the distributor of all spiritual goods, that the deeds of charity may be fulfilled; whence He adds, All things therefore &c.

CHRYS. Otherwise; The Lord desires to teach that men ought to seek aid from above, but at the same time to contribute what lays in their power; wherefore when He had said, Ask, seek, and knock, He proceeds to teach openly that men should be at pains for themselves, adding, Whatsoever you would &c.

AUG. Otherwise; The Lord had promised that He would give good things to them that ask Him. But that He may own his petitioners, let us also own ours. For they that beg are in everything, save having of substance, equal to those of whom they beg. What face can you have of making request to your God, when you do not acknowledge your equal? This is that is said in Proverbs, Whoever stops his ear to the cry of the poor, he shall cry and shall not be heard. What we ought to bestow on our neighbor when he asks of us, that we ourselves may be heard of God, we may judge by what we would have others bestow upon us; therefore He says, All things whatsoever you would.

CHRYS. He says not, All things whatsoever, simply, but All things therefore, as though He should say, If you will be heard, besides those things which I have now said to you, do this also. And He said not, Whatsoever you would have done for you by God, do that for your neighbor; lest you should say, But how can I? but He says, Whatsoever you would have done to you by your fellow servant, do that also to your neighbor.

AUG. Some Latin copies add here, good things which I suppose was inserted to make the sense more plain. For it occurred that one might desire some crime to be committed for his advantage, and should so construe this place, that he ought first to do the like to him by whom he would have it done to him. It were absurd to think that this man had fulfilled this command. Yet the thought is perfect, even though this be not added. For the words, All things whatsoever you would, are not to be taken in their ordinary and loose signification, but in their exact and proper sense. For there is no will but only in the good; in the wicked it is rather named desire, and not will. Not that the Scriptures always observe this propriety; but where need is, there they retain the proper word so that none other need be understood.

CYPRIAN; Since the Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ came to all men, He summed up all his commands in one precept, Whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you also to them; and adds, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

PSEUDO-CHRYS. For whatsoever the Law and the Prophets contain up and down through the whole Scriptures, is embraced in this one compendious precept, as the innumerable branches of a tree spring from one root.

GREG. He that thinks he ought to do to another as be expects that others will do to him, considers verily how he may return good things for bad, and better things for good.

CHRYS. Whence what we ought to do is clear, as in our own cases we all know what is proper, and so we cannot take refuge in our ignorance.

AUG. This precept seems to refer to the love of our neighbor, not of God, as in another place He says, there are two commandments on which hang the Law and the Prophets. But as He says not here, The whole Law, as He speaks there, He reserves a place for the other commandment respecting the love of God.

ID. Otherwise; Scripture does not mention the love of God, where it says, All things whatsoever you would because he who loves his neighbor must consequently love. Love itself above all things; but God is Love; therefore he loves God above all things.

Catena Aurea Matthew 7
26 posted on 02/26/2015 7:26:17 AM PST by annalex (fear them not)
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To: annalex


Blessing Christ

Giovanni Bellini

c. 1460
Tempera on wood, 58 x 44 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

27 posted on 02/26/2015 7:26:55 AM PST by annalex (fear them not)
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To: Mrs. Don-o

Welcome.


28 posted on 02/26/2015 9:00:37 AM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All
Information: St. Porphyrius

Feast Day: February 26

Born: 347, Thessalonica, Greece

Died: February 26, 420, Gaza, Palestine

29 posted on 02/26/2015 9:00:57 AM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Mrs. Don-o

Let’s give St. Matthew the credit!


30 posted on 02/26/2015 9:01:54 AM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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Interactive Saints for Kids

St. Porphyry

Feast Day: February 26
Born: (around)360 : : Died: 420


Porphyry was born at Thessalonica, in Greece to wealthy, noble parents. He left his family when he was twenty-five and went to Egypt to enter a monastery as a Hermit, in the desert of Skete. After five years, he made a trip to Jerusalem. He wanted to visit the places where Jesus had actually been while he was on earth.

Porphyry was very fascinated by the Holy Land. His love for Jesus made him more deeply aware of the sufferings of the poor. At home in Thessalonica he had never known what it was like to be poor. Now he still owned all the property and wealth that his parents had left him, but not for long.

He asked his friend Mark to go to Thessalonica and sell everything for him. After three months, Mark returned with the money. This, Porphyry gave away to those who really needed it. He then lived for a while as a Hermit in Palestine on the banks of the river Jordan.

At the age of forty he became a priest and was given care of the relics (remains) of the true cross of Jesus. Porphyry was then made bishop of Gaza in Palestine. He worked generously to lead the people to believe in Jesus and to accept the faith.

But it was hard and slow work that required a great amount of patience. Most of people who lived there at that time were pagans who worshiped false gods and had wrong ideas. Although Porphyry was able to stop many of these pagan practices, he had enemies who made him suffer much.

Others who were Christians loved and admired him very much. They prayed and made sacrifices for him begging God to protect him. Bishop Porphyry spent many years strengthening the Christian community, teaching and preaching about all that Christianity stood for. He died in 420.

Have I trusted God in all my undertakings, believing that he watches over me? Are there some parts of my life still controlled by fear?


31 posted on 02/26/2015 9:24:34 AM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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CATHOLIC ALMANAC

Thursday, February 26

Liturgical Color: Violet

Today the Church recalls St. Paula of
Saint Joseph of Calasanz. In 1847, she
founded the Daughters of Mary, which
operated several schools in Spain. The
goal of the order was to provide a good
education while maintaining devotion to
God.

32 posted on 02/26/2015 5:56:48 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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Day 57 - True Greatness // Temptations to Sin // The Parable of the Lost Sheep

Today's Reading: Matthew 18:1-14

1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" 2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them, 3 and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

5 "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me; 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. 7 "Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the man by whom the temptation comes! 8 And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.

10 "See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you that in heaven their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven. 12 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go in search of the one that went astray? 13 And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14 So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

 

Today's Commentary:

Other ancient authorities add verse 11, "For the Son of man came to save the lost."

A hundred sheep: Jesus is often described as a shepherd (25:32; Jn 10:1-18; 1 Pet 2:25). This parable alludes to the messianic prophecy of Ezek 34:11-31. In context, Ezekiel foretells that God himself would assume the role of a shepherd to seek out and rescue the lost sheep of his fold.

-- Allegorically (St. Hilary, St. Anselm): the lost sheep represent mankind, who went astray in sin. The 99 on the hills are the angels in heaven. In the Incarnation, Christ temporarily descended from the hills to seek the lost souls of men (cf. 15:24; Lk 19:10); through the redemption, Christ restores men to grace and raises them again to the company of the angels (cf. Heb 12:22).


33 posted on 02/26/2015 6:18:44 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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Day 9

Lent Day 9 – Obeying God

by Fr. Robert Barron

One of the most dreadful stories in the entire Bible is the one the ancient Israelites called “the Akeda,” the binding of Isaac. The story is terrible, not simply because it involves human sacrifice, not only because it involves a father’s willingness to kill his own son, but because it seems to set God against God.

After all, Isaac was the son of the promise, the son of Abraham’s impossibly old age, the one through whom Abraham would become the father of many nations. Hoping against hope, Abraham had continued to have faith, even as he and his wife became old and then ancient. This faith was finally justified as Sarah became pregnant and gave birth to Isaac.

Then, some twelve years later, when Isaac was just coming of age, Abraham heard a voice commanding him to sacrifice this son to God, this beloved, bearer of the promise of God. God asks obedience of Abraham.

Now I know many of us might grate against calls to be obedient to authority. But obedience (which means, fundamentally, “listening”) is absolutely essential to the Biblical perspective.

Obeying God is nothing like obeying a politician or a president or a king. Such people are flawed and sinful and sometimes have to be opposed. But God isn’t like that. God is love right through; he wants only what is for our good.

Another important point: politicians and presidents and kings put out policies that we can readily understand, but God is essentially mysterious. We cannot, even in principle, fully understand what God is up to, what his purposes are. His commands—which will always be for our good—are nevertheless often opaque to us. And this is precisely why we have to obey, listen, and abide—even when that obedience seems the height of folly.


34 posted on 02/26/2015 6:21:05 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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Catholic Spiritual Direction.com

False Teachings on Meditation & Contemplation: Sts Peter of Alcantara & Teresa of Avila

February 26, 2015 by Dan Burke  

Teresa of Avila

In 1577, St. Teresa of Avila completed what is heralded as her seminal work on mental prayer, meditation, and contemplation in the Interior Castle. This guidebook to the most profound depths of prayer has become the standard against which all serious inquiries into interior progress must be measured. This is the reason that it is to St. Teresa that the Catechism of the Catholic Church poses the question, “What is contemplative prayer?”

It is in the fourth mansion of the Interior Castle that the author of this work, the holy Franciscan Friar, Peter of Alcántara, through his writings and relationship with St. Teresa, collaborates with her in an important exchange that should impact the way we view prayer today.

Peter of Alcantara 2

This collaboration arose from a dispute involving individuals positing to St. Teresa that a soul seeking to advance in prayer should work to manage thoughts or guide the mind to silence or stillness during prayer. Those advancing this idea cited St. Peter’s writings as proof of the veracity of their claims.

Owing to her knowledge of and respect for St. Peter, as he was one of her spiritual directors, St. Teresa desired to ensure that her thinking on the matter was correct. She turned to the text you now hold to resolve the dispute.

After her investigation, St. Teresa, not known for timidity of expression and emboldened by her union with St. Peter, attacked these false teachings with a notable force that should elicit our careful attention.

St. Teresa, in the third chapter of the fourth mansion of the Interior Castle argued four key points against using any method that is excessively focused on thought management during prayer. In summary, she argues that recollection is a loving awareness of the Lord that comes in the form of a gift and not as a result of spiritual gymnastics. Teresa argues that, as we become absorbed in the Lord, it is insufficient, stifling, frustrating and even dangerous to strive for some inert state of consciousness in which we act against our desire to understand. Instead of a state of consciousness, she encourages us to seek a loving friendship with God:

1)    Deeper prayer does not require that we manage our thoughts (which she calls “human industry”) but that we seek to simply and humbly yield to the work of the Lord. Otherwise, she argues, the result will be that we further exacerbate the normal challenges of prayer.

2)    Deeper prayer comes through a resignation to the will to God. This resignation brings peace, whereas human efforts bring frustration. Psychologically coercing ourselves to inactivity disturbs the true peace that the Lord wants to grant. Peace is a matter of bringing our created will into harmony with the loving Will that created it. Teresa, who understands the delicacy of spousal friendship with the Lord, is aware that on this point true peace requires a completely free response of the heart to the Lord’s self-disclosure. When we do not give space to the heart to make such a free response through petitionary prayer and meditation, we are trying to surmount the movements God Himself has inspired in it. Such coercion always does more harm than good.

3)    “Because the same care which is employed for thinking on nothing, will, perhaps, excite the imagination to think much” instead. The effort to achieve a state of thoughtlessness can exacerbate the soul into thinking in even more distracting ways than otherwise would have been the case. We become aware that we are thinking not to think or else that we have achieved a state of thoughtlessness. But this awareness of our own mental activity or inertia, whether self-congratulatory or condemning, attends not to God or what He discloses but to self. It is locked in an orbit around one’s own big fat ego, unable to break free of its self-awareness even when it is not self-aware.

4)    “Because the most pleasing and substantial service we can do for God is to have only His honor and glory in view, and to forget ourselves, our own benefit, delight, and pleasure.” Pursuing a psychic state can be a preoccupation and distraction when our attention should be on the Lord and on responding to His Presence. This is the same problem addressed in Teresa’s third point, but presented from the perspective of our friendship with God, the perspective out of which she begins her critique. If we are self-occupied with self-awareness or lack of self-awareness, thinking or not thinking, understanding or not understanding, we have already lost sight of the Lord. Our prayer is not a response of love to the One who loves us. Rather than the devotion of friendship and awareness of the otherness of God, rather than being vulnerable to adoration before the wonder of the Lord, we have fixated on things that will never expand the heart or allow it to be humble before Him.

Teresa continues her argument with the admonition that we should not seek to “charm our faculties” into some false state of readiness for God, but that if our mind or faculties are ever to be suspended or managed, then the valid impetus or force to achieve such an end comes from God alone. We need do nothing but simply turn our attention to Him and occupy our minds with Him in prayer, which is the central thrust of this book and of the practice of authentic Christian meditation.

Why was this so important to Teresa then, and why is it important to us now? We live in a period that is just as obsessed with methods of prayer and false teaching on prayer as it was then. In keeping with our lower nature, we look for secret, easy formulas to success; five ways to a better this, and four quick and easy ways to a better that. As with modern weight loss schemes, these methods leave the wallet thinner and the soul no closer to the fulfillment of what it truly needs and desires. St. Peter of Alcántara’s work is as sure an antidote to much of the false teaching of our day as it was in his own.

St. Peter’s insights on prayer are far more profound and far reaching than the size of this text might suggest. The reader will find not only help in satisfying the short-term need for insight on how to grow in prayer, but also a window into perspectives on prayer that should challenge and enrich the reader for years to come.

In particular, St. Peter is not afraid to call us to a deeper commitment to self-denial and ascetical practices as we pursue a deeper life of prayer and devotion. Many in our time criticize or downplay traditional asceticism, but if we believe St. Teresa’s account of St. Peter’s appearance to her after his death, it seems that God also approved of his approach. We also have affirmation of his ascetical counsels affirmed and even more deeply explored in the writings of St. John of the Cross.

One of the greatest benefits of our time with respect to theological clarity is St. John Paul II’s gift of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. In part four entitled Christian Prayer, we have a beautiful and concise summary of all of the most important aspects of the Church’s understanding of prayer. Here, in the Catechism, we see distinctions made between three expressions of prayer: vocal prayer, meditation, and contemplation. This clarity allows us to better understand the progressive nature of the development of prayer and corrects a number of past and present errors. It also sheds light on and reinforces St. Peter’s use of the terms “meditation” and “contemplation.”

St. Peter’s use of the term “meditation” falls squarely in line with the Catechism wherein it reveals:

2705  Meditation is above all a quest. The mind seeks to understand the why and how of the Christian life, in order to adhere and respond to what the Lord is asking. The required attentiveness is difficult to sustain. We are usually helped by books, and Christians do not want for them: the Sacred Scriptures, particularly the Gospels, holy icons, liturgical texts of the day or season, writings of the spiritual fathers, works of spirituality, the great book of creation, and that of history—the page on which the “today” of God is written.

2706 To meditate on what we read helps us to make it our own by confronting it with ourselves. Here, another book is opened: the book of life. We pass from thoughts to reality. To the extent that we are humble and faithful, we discover in meditation the movements that stir the heart and we are able to discern them. It is a question of acting truthfully in order to come into the light: “Lord, what do you want me to do?”

2707 There are as many and varied methods of meditation as there are spiritual masters. Christians owe it to themselves to develop the desire to meditate regularly, lest they come to resemble the three first kinds of soil in the parable of the sower. But a method is only a guide; the important thing is to advance, with the Holy Spirit, along the one way of prayer: Christ Jesus.

2708 Meditation engages thought, imagination, emotion, and desire. This mobilization of faculties is necessary in order to deepen our convictions of faith, prompt the conversion of our heart, and strengthen our will to follow Christ. Christian prayer tries above all to meditate on the mysteries of Christ, as in lectio divina or the Rosary. This form of prayerful reflection is of great value, but Christian prayer should go further: to the knowledge of the love of the Lord Jesus, to union with him.

St. Peter also clearly acknowledges meditation as a transitional form of prayer (as do all faithful spiritual theologians) that draws us ever more deeply into relationship with God. With God’s grace, we eventually transition out of this mode of prayer, into a more simple prayer, and then to what is known as infused contemplation. St. Peter clarifies this process. In his discussion of contemplation, he uses the term “contemplation” to refer to either acquired/natural contemplation or affective meditation. However, he is particularly clear on this matter in his eighth counsel on meditation, where he reveals the right understanding of a kind of contemplation that is much different than what can be known in meditation and is in keeping with St. Teresa’s understanding of contemplation.

The importance of this clarity is a matter of significance in our time. As Ignatian spirituality has emerged as a dominant expression today, a particular form of Ignatian meditation has become very popular. This approach to prayer has and will continue to bear much fruit in the lives of those who diligently engage with the practice, especially in the manner proposed by St. Peter. It is a form of prayer that is important to help beginners emerge through and then out of the purgative phase of spiritual growth into the illuminative phase. This transition, most clearly revealed in the writings of St. John of the Cross, is one whereby the pilgrim, once deeply blessed by meditation, leaves it behind in favor of a contemplation wherein God rewards their diligent ascesis and devotion by drawing them into a form of prayer that has little to do with human will or action and much more to do with God’s work of transformative grace in the soul.

Much more can be said about the value of this great gift of meditation to the Church. This text is so clear that the reader should have little trouble finding the gems that God has in store for all who truly desire to grow in relationship with Him in prayer.


35 posted on 02/26/2015 6:25:28 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All
Catholic Culture

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/pictures/2_26_porphyrius.jpg

 

Daily Readings for:February 26, 2015
(Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Bestow on us, we pray, O Lord, a spirit of always pondering on what is right and of hastening to carry it out, and since without you we cannot exist, may we be enabled to live according to your will. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

RECIPES

o    Whole Wheat Bread II

ACTIVITIES

o    Relating the Bible to Liturgy

o    Scripture in the Home

PRAYERS

o    Prayer for the First Week of Lent

o    Family Spiritual Reading

o    Lent Table Blessing 1

LIBRARY

o    Greater International Solidarity For The Holy Land | Cardinal Renato R. Martino

o    Prayer For Peace at the Greek-Orthodox Church in Quneitra | Pope John Paul II

·         Lent: February 26th

·         Thursday of the First Week of Lent

Old Calendar: Saint Porphyrius, bishop (Hist)

Historically today is the feast of St. Porphyrius, a wealthy Greek who became a hermit first in the desert of Skete in Egypt and then in Palestine on the banks of the Jordan. Much against his will he was raised to the see of Gaza, which he ruled with extraordinary energy, ability and success. He almost completely uprooted the remnants of paganism in his diocese. His biography written by his deacon Mark is one of the most valuable historical sources of the fifth century.

Stational Church


Saint Porphyrius
Saint Porphyrius, Archbishop of Gaza, was born about the year 346 at Thessalonica. His parents were people of substance, and this allowed St Porphyrius to receive a fine education. Having the inclination for monastic life, he left his native region at twenty-five years of age and set off for Egypt, where he lived in the Nitrian desert under the guidance of St Macarius the Great (January 19). There he also met St Jerome (June 15), who was then visiting the Egyptian monasteries. He went to Jerusalem on pilgrimage to the holy places, and to venerate the Life-Creating Cross of the Lord (September 14), then he moved into a cave in the Jordanian wilderness for prayer and ascetic deeds.

After five years, St Porphyrius was afflicted with a serious malady of the legs. He decided to go to the holy places of Jerusalem to pray for healing. As he lay half-conscious at the foot of Golgotha, St Porphyrius fell into a sort of trance. He beheld Jesus Christ descending from the Cross and saying to him, "Take this Wood and preserve it."

Coming out of his trance, he found himself healthy and free from pain. Then he gave away all his money to the poor and for the adornment of the churches of God. For a time he supported himself by working as a shoemaker. The words of the Savior were fulfilled when the saint was forty-five years old. The Patriarch of Jerusalem ordained St Porphyrius to the holy priesthood and appointed him custodian of the Venerable Wood of the Cross of the Lord.

In 395 the bishop of the city of Gaza (in Palestine) died. The local Christians went to Caesarea to ask Metropolitan John to send them a new bishop who would be able to contend against the pagans, which were predominant in their city and were harassing the Christians there. The Lord inspired the Metropolitan to summon the priest Porphyrius. With fear and trembling the ascetic accepted the office of bishop, and with tears he prostrated himself before the Life-Creating Wood and went to fulfill his new obedience.

In Gaza there were only three Christian churches, but there were a great many pagan temples and idols. During this time there had been a long spell without rain, causing a severe drought. The pagan priests brought offerings to their idols, but the woes did not cease. St Porphyrius imposed a fast for all the Christians; he then served an all-night Vigil, followed by a church procession around the city. Immediately the sky covered over with storm clouds, thunder boomed, and abundant rains poured down. Seeing this miracle, many pagans cried out, "Christ is indeed the only true God!" As a result of this, 127 men, thirty-five women and fourteen children were united to the Church through Holy Baptism, and another 110 men soon after this.

The pagans continued to harass the Christians. They passed them over for public office, and burdened them with taxes. St Porphyrius and Metropolitan John of Caesarea journeyed to Constantinople to seek redress from the emperor. St John Chrysostom (September 14, January 27 and 30) received them and assisted them.

Ss. John and Porphyrius were presented to the empress Eudoxia who was expecting a child at that time. "Intercede for us," said the bishops to the empress, "and the Lord will send you a son, who shall reign during your lifetime". Eudoxia very much wanted a son, since she had given birth only to daughters. Through the prayer of the saints an heir was born to the imperial family. As a result of this, the emperor issued an edict in 401 ordering the destruction of pagan temples in Gaza and the restoration of privileges to Christians. Moreover, the emperor gave the saints money for the construction of a new church, which was to be built in Gaza on the site of the chief pagan temple.

St Porphyrius upheld Christianity in Gaza to the very end of his life, and guarded his flock from the vexatious pagans. Through the prayers of the saint numerous miracles and healings occurred. The holy archpastor guided his flock for twenty-five years, and reposed in 420 at an advanced age.

Excerpted from http://molonlabe70.blogspot.com/2008/02/st-porphyrius-bishop-of-gaza.html

Things to Do:


http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/overviews/Seasons/Lent/images/station_lorenzo_panisperna_9.jpgThe Station today is at St. Lawrence in Panisperna. The church stands on the site of St. Lawrence's martyrdom. The appellation refers to the name of the street, which in turn most likely refers to the tradition of the Poor Clares in the adjacent convent of distributing bread and ham (pane e perna) on August 10th, the feast day of St. Lawrence. This is done in remembrance of St. Lawrence distributing funds from the church to the poor.


36 posted on 02/26/2015 6:34:08 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All
The Word Among Us

Meditation: Matthew 7:7-12

1st Week of Lent

How much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him. (Matthew 7:11)

For some people, prayer is sort of like a trip to the casino. Pop in a prayer request, pull the lever, and see what happens. Maybe once in a while they win—a new job, a healing, an unexpected blessing—but more often than not, they’re just yanking on the lever and waiting to see what happens. God is like a powerful casino owner who occasionally gives you a payout to keep you coming back.

But God doesn’t look at us with the calculating eyes of a businessman. Far from it! He gazes on us with the love of a Father for his children. Like any father, he wants what is best for us. He is committed to helping us become the best possible version of ourselves. So we should feel confident that when we don’t get what we ask for, it’s not because he is cruelly withholding it. It’s because his plan for our lives doesn’t end with earthly riches, but with a much deeper and more persistent sense of fulfillment. His plan and his intentions may not always be clear to us, but we can be confident that they are infinitely better than any ideas we come up with on our own.

Of course we can ask God for anything we think we need, even for those things we just plain want. He accepts every prayer we breathe, if only because it’s another opportunity for us to come into his presence and for him to shape us. Every time we come to him in prayer, he gently and gradually shows us what we really need, what our hearts really cry out for. We bring him our desires and hopes and dreams, and he transforms them! He shifts our priorities and preoccupations and helps us learn how to long for those things that truly are good for us.

God won’t condemn you for being selfish or greedy. Remember, he sent Jesus not to condemn but to save. You are precious to him, and he wants nothing more than to make you happy. Really and truly happy!

“Lord, you have given me so many good things. I am so grateful for the way you provide for me and watch over me. Jesus, I trust in you!”

Esther C:12, 14-16, 23-25
Psalm 138:1-3, 7-8


37 posted on 02/26/2015 7:51:20 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All

Marriage=One Man and One Woman 'Til Death Do Us Part

Daily Marriage Tip for February 26, 2015:

Perhaps you’ve avoided the flu so far. Sooner or later, however, one of you will feel under the weather. How does your beloved like to be cared for? Lots of attention or “Just leave me alone, honey.” Give what he/she needs, not what you would have liked.

38 posted on 02/26/2015 7:59:44 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All
Regnum Christi

Never Stop Seeking Holiness
U. S. A. | SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY
February 26, 2015. Thursday of the First Week of Lent



By Father Alex Yeung, LC


Matthew 7:7-12


"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asks for a loaf of bread, or a snake when he asks for a fish? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him. Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the law and the prophets.”


Introductory Prayer: Heavenly Father, I take these moments to adore you and to enter into your loving presence. I dare to tell you I believe in you, although you know how weak my faith is. You are the reason for all my hope in life. Lord, I count on you as I strive to love you more totally and to attain the holiness of life to which you have called me. Amen.


Petition: Lord, teach me how to pray.


1. The Shortcut to Holiness: Again we are confronted with that fundamental principle of our sanctification: “He must increase, and I must decrease” (Cf. John 3:30). Christ must become more and more in us. That’s what genuine prayer accomplishes, if that prayer consists of a one-on-one conversation with the Savior that engages heart, mind and will. Could it be the case that I am seeking holiness without having firmly decided to anchor each day, indeed my entire life, in prayer?


2. Trust Like Little Children: Why is it that the prospect of our personal holiness seems so outlandish to us? Why are we so inwardly reluctant to believe that God, the almighty, the all-powerful, who created us from nothing, can also sanctify us? Maybe the part that discourages us is our unwillingness to jump headlong into that part of our sanctification that depends on us. But even here, Christ urges us to pray with confidence: “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:11). Is it too much to believe and trust that God will strengthen our will in the pursuit of holiness? Will his grace fail us if we ask for holiness with complete trust and childlike confidence?


3. What a Combination! Prayer, holiness and apostolic fruitfulness are intrinsically linked. If we, as lay apostles, wish to see fruit in all our apostolic endeavors, we know it will depend in large part on our degree of holiness: our degree of real union with God, the degree to which his divine life flows through us. That divine life, given to us in baptism and increased through our sacramental life, can be enhanced every day in personal prayer where our thirst for God is not quenched, but rather greatly increased. We should pray always, so that prayer will be the secret of our holiness and apostolic fruitfulness.

Prayer continues to be the greatest power on earth. It must be at the very center of our quest for holiness.


Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, thank you for this time of prayer. Thank you for teaching me interiorly, little by little every day, how to pray more perfectly. For the sake of those men and women, my brothers and sisters, whose own salvation is somehow mysteriously linked to my life and to my fidelity to you, give me holiness! Amen.


Resolution: I will renew my determination to make a daily prayer time, and make sure that this becomes, or continues to be, a part of my daily routine.


39 posted on 02/26/2015 8:02:49 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All

Homily of the Day

Seek God for Help

In the book of Esther, the Jews of Persia were being threatened with extermination. But Mordecai and Esther both prayed to God with all their might and implored Him to deliver Israel. God saved His people and their enemies were destroyed.

Oftentimes we go about our daily lives doing many things. When something goes wrong, we try to fix the problem. Often as a last recourse, we ask God for help. To pray to God does not mean not to rely on one’s capacities. It means to invite God into our daily life activities and struggles. It is always good to pray at the beginning of the day, during the day and at the end of the day. In this way, we will be calmer in our decisions, much less impatient and more clear-headed.

It is also not proper to ask God for everything. What we should pray for are things that we really need and things that would benefit others. It is also good to pray for people who have serious problems in life after we have counseled them a bit. We will not know the power of prayer unless we have prayed for a long time and seen its fruits.
Once we have established an intimate relationship with God through prayer, we can start to talk to him as a son addresses his father. We begin to trust in him and understand his plans for us and for others. We start to think like Jesus who is the best model of prayer. Jesus prayed all the time and loved all men totally. The Father always listened to his prayers which were always in accordance with the mind of God.


40 posted on 02/26/2015 8:04:37 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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