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Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 07-19-18
USCCB.org/RNAB ^ | 07-19-18 | Revised New American Bible

Posted on 07/18/2018 10:43:04 PM PDT by Salvation

July 19, 2018

Thursday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Reading 1 Is 26:7-9, 12, 16-19

The way of the just is smooth;
the path of the just you make level.
Yes, for your way and your judgments, O LORD,
we look to you;
Your name and your title
are the desire of our souls.
My soul yearns for you in the night,
yes, my spirit within me keeps vigil for you;
When your judgment dawns upon the earth,
the world's inhabitants learn justice.
O LORD, you mete out peace to us,
for it is you who have accomplished all we have done.

O LORD, oppressed by your punishment,
we cried out in anguish under your chastising.
As a woman about to give birth
writhes and cries out in her pains,
so were we in your presence, O LORD.
We conceived and writhed in pain,
giving birth to wind;
Salvation we have not achieved for the earth,
the inhabitants of the world cannot bring it forth.
But your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise;
awake and sing, you who lie in the dust.
For your dew is a dew of light,
and the land of shades gives birth.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 102:13-14ab and 15, 16-18, 19-21

R. (20b) From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth.
You, O LORD, abide forever,
and your name through all generations.
You will arise and have mercy on Zion,
for it is time to pity her.
For her stones are dear to your servants,
and her dust moves them to pity.
R. From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth.
The nations shall revere your name, O LORD,
and all the kings of the earth your glory,
When the LORD has rebuilt Zion
and appeared in his glory;
When he has regarded the prayer of the destitute,
and not despised their prayer.
R. From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth.
Let this be written for the generation to come,
and let his future creatures praise the LORD:
"The LORD looked down from his holy height,
from heaven he beheld the earth,
To hear the groaning of the prisoners,
to release those doomed to die."
R. From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth.

Alleluia Mt 11:28

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

Gospel Mt 11:28-30

Jesus said:
"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."


TOPICS: Catholic; General Discusssion; Prayer; Worship
KEYWORDS: catholic; mt11; ordinarytime; prayer
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'Let us abandon ourselves to Him, trust in Him, despoil ourselves of everything, and God will clothe us after His own way.'

St. Paul of the Cross

21 posted on 07/19/2018 5:14:54 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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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. 


"Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Lk 1:28) 

 "Blessed are you among women,
 and blessed is the fruit of your womb"
(Lk 1:42). 


22 posted on 07/19/2018 5:16:44 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/3672386/posts

Saint of the Day — Saint Mary MacKillop


23 posted on 07/19/2018 9:06:52 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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Information: St. Arsenius

Feast Day: July 19

Died: 450 at Troë

24 posted on 07/19/2018 9:18:22 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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St. Macrina

Feast Day: July 19
Born: (around) 327 :: Died: 379

St. Basil the Elder and St. Emmelia had ten children. They raised their family at Caesarea in Cappadocia. Their first child, Macrina, was named after her grandmother St. Macrina (the Elder). Emmelia taught Macrina to read and write at a very young age.

As was the custom in those days, when Macrina was twelve, she was engaged to a young lawyer. But he died before the wedding and Macrina told her parents she wished to remain unmarried.

Macrina was the big sister to nine brothers and sisters. Along with her parents and herself, three of her brothers are saints. St. Basil the Great (January 2), St. Peter of Sebaste and St. Gregory of Nyssa were all bishops.

Macrina helped raise the children and they loved her. The youngest, St. Peter of Sebaste who was born after their father died, remembers her especially with gratitude for the love and care he received as a baby.

The children grew up and St. Basil the Great found an estate for his mother and Macrina in Pontus. It was like a convent and many women in the area came to live a holy life there. After St. Emmelia died, Macrina continued to live like a nun. She worked hard and gave away everything the family owned except what she really needed.

Her brother Basil died in 379 and a year later Macrina too, became ill. Her brother, St. Gregory of Nyssa, who had been away for eight years, came home to visit her. He found Macrina frail and weak, resting on two boards. And a few hours later, she died.

St. Gregory, the local bishop and two priests carried Macrina's coffin to the grave. The funeral procession was long and many people wept. St. Gregory wrote about Macrina and that is how the beauty of her life became known.

Reflection: How do I want my family to remember me? How can I show my love and support to them?


25 posted on 07/19/2018 9:23:18 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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CATHOLIC ALMANAC

Thursday, July 19

Liturgical Color: Red

Today is the Memorial of St. John de
Brébeuf and St. Isaac Jogues, priests
and companions, martyrs. St. John
traveled to Canada to evangelize the
native Huron. He was captured and
killed by Iroquois in 1649.

26 posted on 07/19/2018 9:31:57 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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Catholic Culture

Ordinary Time: July 19th

Thursday of the Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time

MASS READINGS

July 19, 2018 (Readings on USCCB website)

COLLECT PRAYER

O God, who show the light of your truth to those who go astray, so that they may return to the right path, give all who for the faith they profess are accounted Christians the grace to reject whatever is contrary to the name of Christ and to strive after all that does it honor. 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.er.

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Old Calendar: St. Vincent de Paul, confessor; St. Arsenius, Monk (Hist); St. Aurea of Cordoba, martry (Hist); Servant of God Francis Garces and Companions, martyrs

Historically today is the feast of the holy abbot Arsenius. Before he left the world and retired into the desert, he led an innocent and saintly life at the court of Theodosius the Great, who had entrusted him with the care of the education of his children.

It is also the feast of St. Aurea, Roman Catholic Martyr of Spain. She was born in Cordova, Spain, in the ninth century to Muslim parents. She was also the sister of Ss. Aldolphus and John, who were martyred at Cordova. Aurea became a Christian after her husband died, and took the veil at a monastery in Cuteclara, Spain, where she remained for more than twenty years.
She was ultimately denounced as a Christian by her parents, and received a martyr’s crown by beheading in 856.

According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Vincent de Paul, Confessor. His feast in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite is celebrated on September 26. .


St. Arsenius
Arsenius was born to two rich parents in A.D. 350 in Rome. His father was a senator and judge. His parents were very righteous and honorable people. They sent Arsenius to the teachers of the Church and was raised in the fear of God. He was eager to read the Scriptures and the holy books, and was ordained a deacon then an arch-deacon by Saint Damasus the Bishop of Rome.

After his parents died, his sister Afrositty and he gave all their riches to the poor, and lived an ascetic life. Arsenius became famous for his righteousness and wisdom. He was a disciple of Rophenius the monastic historian from whom he admired the Egyptian monastic life and its fathers, and he wished to meet them.

When the Emperor Theodosius the Great wanted a man to whom he might entrust the education of his children, Saint Damasus recommended Arsenius, a man of senatorial rank learned in both sacred and worldly knowledge. Arsenius accordingly went to Constantinople in 383 A.D. and was appointed to the post by Theodosius who, coming once to see Arcadius and Honorius at their studies, found them sitting whilst Arsenius talked to them standing: at once he caused Arsenius to sit and ordered them to listen to him standing. But neither then nor in after-life were the two augusti any credit to such a father or such a tutor; added to this Arsenius had always a tendency to a retired life.

When therefore after over ten years at the court he seemed clearly to hear the voice of God through the Gospel, "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Matthew 16:26). He left Constantinople and came by sea to Alexandria and fled into the wilderness. When he first presented himself to Abba Macarius the Great, the father of the monks of Skete, he recommended him to the care of Saint John the Dwarf to try him. In the evening, when the rest of the monks sat down to take their meal, Saint John left Arsenius standing in the middle without inviting him. Such a reception was a severe trial to an ex- courtier; but was followed by another much rougher, for Saint John took a loaf of bread and threw it on the ground before him, biding him with an air of indifference to eat it if he would. Arsenius cheerfully sat on the ground and took his meal. Saint John was so satisfied with his behavior that he required no further trial for his admission, and said, "This man will make a monk".

Arsenius at first used thoughtlessly to do certain things which he had done in the world, which seemed inappropriate to his new companions, for instance, to sit cross-legged. The seniors were unwilling through the respect they bore him to tell him of this in public, so one agreed with another that he should put himself in that posture and then be rebuked for his immodesty. Arsenius saw that the reproof was meant for him, and corrected himself of that trick.

Being asked one day why he, being so well educated, sought the instruction and advice of a certain monk who was an utter stranger to all literature, he replied, "I am not unacquainted with the learning of the Greeks and the Romans; but I have not yet learned the alphabet of the science of the saints, whereof this seemingly ignorant Egyptian is master". Evagrius of Pontus who, after he had distinguished himself at Constantinople by his learning, had retired into the desert of Nitria in 385, expressed surprise that many learned men made no progress in virtue, whilst many Egyptians, who did not even know the letters of the alphabet, arrived at a high degree of contemplation. Arsenius answered, "We make no progress because we dwell in that exterior learning which puffs up the mind; but these illiterate Egyptians have a true sense of their own weakness, blindness, and insufficiency; and by that very thing they are qualified to labor successfully in the pursuit of virtue".

Arsenius often passed the whole night in watching and prayer, ad on Saturdays it was his custom to go to prayers turning his back to the evening sun, and continue with his hands lifted up to Heaven till the sun shone on his face the next morning.

One of the emperor's officers brought him the will of a senator, his relation, who was lately dead, and had left him his heir. The saint took the will and would have torn it to pieces, but the officer begged him not to, saying such an accident would get him in trouble. Arsenius, however, refused the estate, saying "I died eleven years ago and cannot be his heir".

He employed himself in making mats of palm-tree leaves; and he never changed the water in which he moistened the leaves, but only poured in fresh water upon it as it wasted. When some asked him why he did not cast away the filthy water, he answered, "I ought to be punished by this smell for the self-indulgence with which I formerly used perfumes". He lived in the most utter poverty, so that in an illness, having need for a small sum to procure him some little necessities, he was obliged to beg for it.

Due to his desire for quiet and solitude, Saint John allowed Saint Arsenius to live alone in a hidden cave in the desert 32 miles away. He would seldom see strangers who came to visit him, but Theophilus, Pope of Alexandria, came one day in company with others to visit him, and begged he would speak on some subject for the good of their souls. The saint asked them whether they were disposed to comply with his directions; and being answered in the affirmative, he replied, "I entreat you then that, whenever you are informed of Arsenius' abode, you would leave him to himself and spare yourselves the trouble of coming after him". He never visited his brethren, contenting himself with meeting them at spiritual conferences. The abbot Mark asked him one day why he so much shunned their company. The saint answered, "God knows how dearly I love you all; but I find I cannot be both with God and with men at the same time; nor can I think of leaving God to converse with men".

This disposition, however, did not hinder him from giving spiritual instruction to his brethren, and several of his sayings are recorded. He said often, "I have always something to repent for after having talked, but have never been sorry for having been silent".

Nothing is so much spoken of about Arsenius as his gift of tears, weeping both over his own shortcomings and those of the world, particularly the feebleness of Arcadius and the foolishness of Honorius.

Saint Arsenius was tall and comely but stooped a little in his old age; he had graceful carriage and a certain shining beauty and air of both majesty and meekness; his hair was all white, and his beard reached down to his girdle, but the tears which he shed continually had worn away his eye-lashes. He lived in the same austere manner till the age of about ninety-five; he spent forty years in the desert of Skete, till a raid of barbarians compelled him to forsake this abode about the year 434. He retired to the rock of Troe, over against Memphis, and ten years after to the island of Canopus, near Alexandria; but not being able to bear the neighborhood of that city, he returned to Troe, where he died.

His brethren, seeing him weep in his last hours, said to him, "Father, why do you weep? Are you, like others, afraid to die?" The saint answered, "I am very afraid - nor has this dread ever forsaken me from the time I first came into these deserts". Notwithstanding his fear, Saint Arsenius died in great peace, full of faith and of that humble confidence which perfect charity inspires, in the year 445.

Excerpted from Coptic Orthodox Church Network


St. Aurea of Cordoba
St. Aurea was one of the Córdoba martyrs. The city of Córdoba had been Christian from apostolic times until the Islamic conquest came to southern Spain in the year 711.

Soon Córdoba became the capital of this part of the original "Islamic State", and would remain so until the 15th century.

During this whole period the Church continued to exist, but she was subject to sharia (Islamic law) which forbade public witness and imposed jizya (a special tax). Things became more complicated as Córdoba grew into a prestigious economic and cultural center in the Islamic world. Catholic churches and monasteries remained, but the population — attracted by the many opportunities in the Muslim city — began converting to Islam. Even prominent churchmen cooperated with the political regime in ways that compromised their integrity.

By 800, few remained professing Catholics. A significant portion of the population, however, conformed externally to Islamic laws and customs but tried in various ways to remain Christian privately or even secretly. Though sharia law permitted Christians to exist, it forbade Muslims to convert to Christianity. This was regarded as the crime of apostasy, punishable by death.

The problem of "secret Christians" in Islamic Spain was especially complicated by the inevitable mixed marriages between Muslim men and Christian women. The latter were generally permitted to retain their faith, but the children of such marriages were considered Muslim by sharia law. It is impossible to gauge the influence of these Christian mothers on their children, but it was not negligible.

Thus, by the 9th century Córdoba was institutionally and legally Muslim and what was left of the Church was largely compliant. But this period also documents the witness of forty-eight Córdoba Martyrs. Many were Christians executed for blasphemy because, in seeking to reinvigorate the Church, they openly proclaimed Christ and denounced Islam.

But there were also apostates among them. Saint Aurea illustrates what may have been the hidden truth for many others born of mixed marriages. She was one of several children of a prominent Muslim father and a Christian mother. Her mother must have been an outstanding woman of faith who raised her children as believing Christians. When Aurea was young, two of her brothers were martyred. Sometime after this (and after her marriage and widowhood, about which nothing is known) Aurea joined her mother in seclusion in a convent outside the city.

A significant portion of the population, however, conformed externally to Islamic laws and customs but tried in various ways to remain Christian privately or even secretly.
Open Christian witness was met by further Muslim persecution in 850, and it became increasingly unsafe for Christians like Aurea, who were legally Muslim by birth in spite of growing up as Christians and personally embracing the Christian Faith. Relatives from her Muslim father's family found Aurea after twenty years of undisturbed peace in the convent and brought her before the sharia court. To avoid being condemned for apostasy, Aurea did what many other secret Christians did to escape: she declared adherence to Islam and its prophet.

She repented, however, almost immediately after being released, and returned to practicing her Christian faith. Her Muslim relatives denounced her again, and this time she was executed on July 19, 856. We have presented Aurea as a convert even though its possible that she was baptized a Christian at an early age. Nevertheless, she was martyred because Islamic law regarded her as a convert — an apostate — simply because of her free adherence to Jesus Christ.

Excerpted from John Janaro "Saint Aurea of Cordoba." Magnificat (April, 2016).


Servant of God Francis Garces and Companions
A contemporary of the American Revolution and of Blessed Junipero Serra, Francisco Garcés was born in 1738 in Spain, where he joined the Franciscans.

After ordination in 1763, he was sent to Mexico. Five years later he was assigned to San Xavier del Bac near Tucson, one of several missions the Jesuits had founded in Arizona and New Mexico before being expelled in 1767 from all territories controlled by the Catholic king of Spain. In Arizona, Francisco worked among the Papago, Yuma, Pima and Apache Native Americans. His missionary travels took him to the Grand Canyon and to California.

Friar Francisco Palou, a contemporary, writes that Father Garcés was greatly loved by the indigenous peoples, among whom he lived unharmed for a long time. They regularly gave him food and referred to him as "Viva Jesus," which was the greeting he taught them to use.

For the sake of their indigenous converts, the Spanish missionaries wanted to organize settlements away from the Spanish soldiers and colonists. But the commandant in Mexico insisted that two new missions on the Colorado River, Misión San Pedro y San Pablo and Misión La Purísima Concepción, be mixed settlements.

A revolt among the Yumas against the Spanish left Friars Juan Diaz and Matias Moreno dead at Misión San Pedro y San Pablo. Friars Francisco Garcés and Juan Barreneche were killed at Misión La Purísima Concepción (the site of Fort Yuma).

Excerpted from the Catholic News Agency

27 posted on 07/19/2018 9:37:17 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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The Word Among Us

Meditation: Matthew 11:28-30

15th Week in Ordinary Time

Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)

Think about all the times we hear commands in radio and TV ads. “Start using your checkout account today!” “Don’t lose your reward!” “Buy now and save!” Such commands, clearly, are designed to stir us to action.

Jesus sometimes speaks this way to us, too. In today’s Gospel reading, for instance, he issues a compelling command, one with promises attached that far outstrip any promise made by any advertiser. Come to me! he commands, and I will give you rest, he promises (Matthew 11:28).

And yet Jesus knows how easy it is for us to set aside his command to come to him and so miss out on his promise of rest. We have all kinds of reasons why we don’t come to him. Guilt or shame can keep us away because we feel unworthy to be in Jesus’ presence. Or maybe we are feeling overwhelmed, so busy trying to get things done that we just don’t feel we can make the time for God. Distractions, especially the “noise” we face every day from the myriad forms of media and entertainment, can make it difficult to quiet our minds and settle into Jesus’ presence. Or we might be tempted to think, “I’m okay. I don’t need to rest with Jesus right now. I can do this if I just work harder.”

Whatever the reason, Jesus still says, Come! Come to me when you’re feeling bad about yourself. Come to me even when you think you’re too busy. Come especially when you’re distracted. Come when you are depressed or anxious or lonely. Come, even if you think you can do something without me.

So what are you waiting for? Using your faith and your imagination, place yourself in Jesus’ presence right now. Tell him what’s on your mind—your burdens, your victories, your worries, your workload. Even tell him about your sins. He won’t judge you; he’ll forgive you! Then close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. You may not feel anything right away, but you can still trust that he is pouring his blessings on you—precisely because you came to him.

“Jesus, I need your rest, so I come to you to take on your yoke and learn from you.”

Isaiah 26:7-9, 12, 16-19
Psalm 102:13-21

28 posted on 07/19/2018 9:40:06 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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Daily Gospel Commentary

Saint Jerome (347-420)
priest, translator of the Bible, Doctor of the Church

Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians, Bk. 3, Ch. 6

The light burden of the law of Christ

“Bear one another’s burdens and so you will fulfil the law of Christ.” Sin is a burden as the psalmist attests when he says: “My sins weigh heavy upon me.” But the Lord has carried this burden for us, teaching us by his example what we ourselves should do. For it is he who bore the burden of our sins; he was stricken for our sake (cf Is 53:8) and invites those who are weighed down by the heavy burden of the Law and of their sins to carry the easy burden of virtue, saying: “My yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Mt 11:30).

Therefore whoever holds out a hand to the person who begs for support, not despairing of a neighbor’s salvation, who weeps with those who weep, is weak with those who are weak and who regards other’s sins as though they were his own: such a one fulfils through charity the law of Christ. What is this law of Christ? “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another” (Jn 13:34). What is the law of the Son of God? “Love one another as I have loved you.” How has the Son of God loved us? No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn 15:13).

Someone who shows no clemency, who is not clothed with the bowels of mercy and tears, no matter what sort of student he is in spirituality, such a one does not fulfil the law of Christ. Someone who comes to the assistance of the poor weighed down by the burden of destitution and makes friends with dishonest wealth (Lk 16:9), such a one shoulders the needs of his neighbor. This is the one to whom Jesus will say aft the general resurrection: “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink” (Mt 25:34-35).

29 posted on 07/19/2018 9:45:21 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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Marriage = One Man and One Woman Until Death Do Us Part

Daily Marriage Tip for July 19, 2018:

Happiness tip #3: Simplicity can be very satisfying, especially when a couple has goals of service that they explore together. It doesn’t mean you never splurge, but rather these “things” are not the ultimate source of joy in your relationship.

30 posted on 07/19/2018 9:53:55 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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Regnum Christi

July 19th, 2018 – Weary of Heart

Thursday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Father Shawn Aaron, LC [Matthew 11: 28-30]

Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy and my burden light.”

Introductory Prayer: Almighty and ever-living God, I seek new strength from the courage of Christ our shepherd. I believe in you, I hope in you, and I seek to love you with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind, and all my strength. I want to be led one day to join the saints in heaven, where your Son Jesus Christ lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever.

Petition: Lord Jesus, meek and humble of heart, help me to take on your yoke.

  1. Come to Me: If you struggle daily to do what is morally right even when those around you take shortcuts, then come to Jesus. If the life of selfish pleasure and illicit gain seems exceedingly attractive, then come to Jesus. If you are burdened with your patterns of sin and weaknesses of character that affect your vocation as a spouse, a parent, a friend, a consecrated soul, a Christian…, then come to Jesus. If life seems unfair and God seems distant at best, then come to Jesus. He calls us not to a set of principles and noble ideals, but to his very person. We do not follow rules for the sake of rules; we follow Jesus. Only when we have first come to him will we understand the need for the rules which simply help protect the dignity of this relationship.
  1. Learn from Me: St. Paul admonishes the Galatians to live in the freedom of Christ: “For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1). Yet in his letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul invites us to be “slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart” (6:5). To be a slave means that I submit to the will of another or am subordinated (unwillingly) to one stronger than I in some way. One who is a slave of passion, vanity, selfishness or any other vice is subject to that vice as something more powerful than oneself. But Jesus calls us friends and not slaves (cf. John 15:14-15). So, to be a “slave” of Christ means to entrust my life to him freely with the intention of following where he leads. Experience shows that he always guides us down the path that leads to our happiness and fulfillment, even when it entails the cross.
  1. Rest for Yourselves: These words mean “rest,” not in the sense of cessation from work and struggle, but in the sense of peace of soul, joy and profound happiness. This is the rest that we all long for, the rest that will one day be uninterrupted in the bliss of heaven. We have each met individuals who experience this peace and joy despite their circumstances. Notice that Jesus does not promise to take away the burdens, the trials, the sufferings. But if we take his yoke upon ourselves, if we submit to his plan, his will, his love, he guarantees the joy. If you have never experienced it, then begin today; give him what you know in your heart he is asking of you. Although it may hurt at first, as does every yoke, this one brings the lightness of peace and the ease of joy.

Conversation with Christ: Blessed Lord, you lead me towards everlasting peace if I will simply follow, but following does not always seem simple. Give me the very things you ask of me: faith, generosity, courage, trust, love. With these gifts and your grace, I will have the strength necessary for the journey.

Resolution: Today I will pray an extra decade of the rosary for the persons who are farthest away from Jesus.

31 posted on 07/19/2018 9:56:57 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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Homily of the Day
July 19, 2018

In the first reading, we hear the prophet Isaiah singing his praise of and hope in God. Isaiah thanks God for watching over and protecting his people.

In the Gospel reading Jesus assures us that he himself will be our refuge in the midst of life’s challenges and burdens, “Come to me, all you who work hard and who carry burdens and I will refresh you.” Jesus invites us to “take his yoke” and to learn from his gentleness and humility.

For all of us life has its share of challenges, difficulties and uncertainties. Life also has its joys and achievements. We get tired, we get discouraged, we get stressed. Life involves an inevitable process of change, very often unpredictable and uncontrollable.

Every day, as evening comes, let us always remember to thank the Lord for the day of life given us. May the evening be an opportunity to rest our bodies and recharge our minds. Let us surrender our anxieties and stresses, inhibitions and problems to his kind heart and pray that we may be able to face the new day with its new chances and opportunities, problems and difficulties and moments to enjoy and return his love for us.

Jesus, meek and humble of heart, touch our hearts and make them like your own.


32 posted on 07/19/2018 9:58:20 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Salvation
One Bread, One Body

One Bread, One Body

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All Issues > Volume 34, Issue 4

<< Thursday, July 19, 2018 >>
 
Isaiah 26:7-9, 12, 16-19
View Readings
Psalm 102:13-21 Matthew 11:28-30
Similar Reflections
 

LIGHTENING

 
"As a woman about to give birth writhes and cries out in her pains, so were we in Your presence, O Lord." �Isaiah 26:17
 

Maimonides, a Jewish rabbi in the twelfth century, listed 613 commandments in the Old Testament. Moreover, the commands in the New Testament are much more challenging than those of the Old (see Mt 5:22, 28, etc.). We are obligated to obey God's commandments, for if we don't act on God's Word, we deceive ourselves (Jas 1:22). Moreover, "whoever falls into sin on one point of the law, even though he keeps the entire remainder, has become guilty on all counts" (Jas 2:10). We are in an impossible situation. The weight of God's law is overwhelming. We must obey God's law, but we cannot do it.

Jesus offers to rescue us from this dilemma when He invites us: "Come to Me, all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you" (Mt 11:28). If we ask Him, Jesus will take over our lives. He will accomplish all that we need to do (see Is 26:12). "He Who calls us is trustworthy, therefore He will do it" (1 Thes 5:24). Life in Christ is not a "do-it-yourself" program; it is a "let-it-be-done" situation. "Salvation we have not achieved for the earth, the inhabitants of the world cannot bring it forth" (Is 26:18). Jesus is the only Savior. "There is no salvation in anyone else, for there is no other name in the whole world given to men by which we are to be saved" (Acts 4:12). Trying to obey even one of God's commands by our own power will crush us. Obeying hundreds of His commands by His grace will be easy and light (Mt 11:30).

Lighten up. Give your life to the Light.

 
Prayer: Father, teach me to depend on You alone for everything.
Promise: "Take My yoke upon your shoulders and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart." —Mt 11:29
Praise: Even though weary from his daily work, Robert takes time to visit Jesus in the Eucharist and feels the great blessing of His quiet presence.

33 posted on 07/19/2018 10:00:44 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All

34 posted on 07/19/2018 10:01:58 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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