Free Republic

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

  The First Friday Devotion in the Catholic Church History of First Friday First Friday devotions among Catholics are related to devotion to the Sacred Heart of Christ. First Friday practices date to the last decades of the 17th century, when Jesus appeared to St. Margaret Mary and spoke to her of His Sacred Heart. Among the promises Our Lord revealed to St. Margaret Mary, the 12th specifically referenced practices for Fridays:In the excess of the mercy of my Heart, I promise you that my all powerful love will grant to all those who will receive Communion on the...

Senior executives of the Texas Department of Transportation can expect some heavy grilling from state legislators when the state Legislature convenes next January, state Rep. Jim McReynolds said Friday. Speaking to the monthly First Friday luncheon of The Chamber, Lufkin-Angelina County, McReynolds said many legislators, especially those from rural East Texas, are unhappy with TxDOT leaders over the Trans- Texas Corridor project and how it has incorporated plans for an Interstate 69 through the region. McReynolds said he attended all four of the TxDOT hearings on the TTC held in his district, which included one in Diboll, and "never heard...

February 1, 2008                                 Friday of the Third Week                                     in Ordinary Time       Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 12 Sm 11:1-4a, 5-10a, 13-17 At the turn of the year, when kings go out on campaign,David sent out Joab along with his officersand the army of Israel,and they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah.David, however, remained in Jerusalem.One evening David rose from his siestaand strolled about on the roof of the palace.From the roof he saw a woman bathing, who was very beautiful.David had...

September 1, 2006 Friday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time Psalm: Friday 36 Reading 11 Cor 1:17-25 Brothers and sisters:Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the Gospel,and not with the wisdom of human eloquence,so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its meaning. The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.For it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,and the learning of the learned I will set aside. Where is the wise one?Where...

Friday June 22, 2001 Feast of the Sacred Heart Reading I (Ezekiel 34:11-16) Reading II (Romans 5:5b-11) Gospel (St. Luke 15:3-7) One might wonder why, on the Feast of the Sacred Heart, we are hearing all about a shepherd. But in order to understand the love of Our Lord which, of course, is symbolized by the heart, one has to understand the heart of a shepherd. The Lord tells us, in the first reading today, that He Himself will pasture His sheep; He will be the shepherd; He will bring them to the green pastures and the plush grazing ground....

September 2, 2005Friday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time Psalm: Friday 38 Reading ICol 1:15-20 Brothers and sisters:Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God,the firstborn of all creation.For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth,the visible and the invisible,whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers;all things were created through him and for him.He is before all things,and in him all things hold together.He is the head of the Body, the Church.He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,that in all things he himself might be preeminent.For in him all the fullness...

August 5, 2005Friday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time Psalm: Friday 34 Reading IDt 4:32-40 Moses said to the people:"Ask now of the days of old, before your time,ever since God created man upon the earth;ask from one end of the sky to the other:Did anything so great ever happen before?Was it ever heard of? Did a people ever hear the voice of Godspeaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live?Or did any god venture to go and take a nation for himselffrom the midst of another nation,by testings, by signs and wonders, by war,with his...

September 6, 2002Friday of the Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time Psalm: Friday 39 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Reading I1 Cor 4:1-5 Brothers and sisters:Thus should one regard us: as servants of Christand stewards of the mysteries of God. Now it is of course required of stewardsthat they be found trustworthy.It does not concern me in the leastthat I be judged by you or any human tribunal;I do not even pass judgment on myself;I am not conscious of anything against me,but I do not thereby stand acquitted;the one who judges me is the Lord.Therefore, do not make any judgment before...