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Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 07-17-13
USCCB.org/RNAB ^ | 07-17-13 | Revised New American Bible

Posted on 07/16/2013 9:06:43 PM PDT by Salvation

July 17, 2013

 

Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

 

 

Reading 1 Ex 3:1-6, 9-12

Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian.
Leading the flock across the desert, he came to Horeb,
the mountain of God.
There an angel of the LORD appeared to him in fire
flaming out of a bush.
As he looked on, he was surprised to see that the bush,
though on fire, was not consumed.
So Moses decided,
“I must go over to look at this remarkable sight,
and see why the bush is not burned.”

When the LORD saw him coming over to look at it more closely,
God called out to him from the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
He answered, “Here I am.”
God said, “Come no nearer!
Remove the sandals from your feet,
for the place where you stand is holy ground.
I am the God of your father,” he continued,
“the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.
The cry of the children of Israel has reached me,
and I have truly noted that the Egyptians are oppressing them.
Come, now! I will send you to Pharaoh to lead my people,
the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

But Moses said to God,
“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh
and lead the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
He answered, “I will be with you;
and this shall be your proof that it is I who have sent you:
when you bring my people out of Egypt,
you will worship God on this very mountain.”

 

Responsorial Psalm Ps 103:1b-2, 3-4, 6-7

R. (8a) The Lord is kind and merciful.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
He pardons all your iniquities,
he heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
he crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
The LORD secures justice
and the rights of all the oppressed.
He has made known his ways to Moses,
and his deeds to the children of Israel.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.

Gospel Mt 11:25-27

At that time Jesus exclaimed:
“I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows the Son except the Father,
and no one knows the Father except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.



TOPICS: Catholic; General Discusssion; Prayer; Worship
KEYWORDS: catholic; ordinarytime; prayer
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To: All
Catholic Almanac

Wednesday, July 17

Liturgical Color: Green

The Church dedicates the month of
October to the Blessed Virgin of the
Rosary. As we pray the rosary we can
look to Our Lady for comfort as she
directs us towards her Son.

21 posted on 07/17/2013 4:35:29 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Salvation
Matthew
  English: Douay-Rheims Latin: Vulgata Clementina Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
  Matthew 11
25 At that time Jesus answered and said: I confess to thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to the little ones. In illo tempore respondens Jesus dixit : Confiteor tibi, Pater, Domine cæli et terræ, quia abscondisti hæc a sapientibus, et prudentibus, et revelasti ea parvulis. εν εκεινω τω καιρω αποκριθεις ο ιησους ειπεν εξομολογουμαι σοι πατερ κυριε του ουρανου και της γης οτι απεκρυψας ταυτα απο σοφων και συνετων και απεκαλυψας αυτα νηπιοις
26 Yea, Father; for so hath it seemed good in thy sight. Ita Pater : quoniam sic fuit placitum ante te. ναι ο πατηρ οτι ουτως εγενετο ευδοκια εμπροσθεν σου
27 All things are delivered to me by my Father. And no one knoweth the Son, but the Father: neither doth any one know the Father, but the Son, and he to whom it shall please the Son to reveal him. Omnia mihi tradita sunt a Patre meo. Et nemo novit Filium, nisi Pater : neque Patrem quis novit, nisi Filius, et cui voluerit Filius revelare. παντα μοι παρεδοθη υπο του πατρος μου και ουδεις επιγινωσκει τον υιον ει μη ο πατηρ ουδε τον πατερα τις επιγινωσκει ει μη ο υιος και ω εαν βουληται ο υιος αποκαλυψαι

22 posted on 07/17/2013 8:31:01 PM PDT by annalex (fear them not)
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To: annalex
25. At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them to babes.
26. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in your sight.

GLOSS: Because the Lord knew that many would doubt respecting the foregoing matter, namely, that the Jews would not receive Christ whom the Gentile world has so willingly received, He here makes answer to their thoughts; And Jesus answered and said, I confess to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth.

GLOSS: That is, Who makes heaven, or leaves in earthliness, whom you will. Or literally,

AUG; If Christ, from whom all sin is far, said, I confess, confession is not proper for the sinner only, but sometimes also for him that gives thanks. We may confess either by praising God, or by accusing ourselves. When He said, I confess to you, it is, I praise you, not I accuse Myself.

JEROME; Let those hear who falsely argue, that the Savior was not born but created, how He calls His Father Lord of heaven and earth. For if He be a creature, and the creature can call its Maker Father, it was surely foolish here to address Him as Lord of heaven and earth, and not of Him (Christ) likewise. He gives thanks that His coming has opened to the Apostles sacraments, which the Scribes are Pharisees knew not, who seemed to themselves wise, and understanding in their own eyes; That you have hid these things from the wise and understanding and have revealed them to babes.

AUG; That the wise and understanding are to be taken as the proud, Himself opens to us when He says, and have revealed them to babes; for who are babes but the humble?

GREG; He says not 'to the foolish', but to babes, showing that He condemns pride, not understanding.

CHRYS; Or when He says, The wise, He does not speak of true wisdom, but of that which the Scribes and Pharisees seemed to have by their speech. Wherefore He said not, 'And have revealed them to the foolish', but, to babes, that is, uneducated, or simple; teaching us in all things to keep ourselves from pride, and to seek humility.

HILARY; The hidden things of heavenly words and their power are hid from the wise, and revealed to the babes; babes, that is, in malice, not in understanding; hid from the wise because of their presumption of their own wisdom, not because of their wisdom.

CHRYS; That it is revealed to the one is matter of joy, that it is hid from the other not of joy, but of sorrow; He does not therefore joy on this account but He joys that these have known what the wise have nor known.

HILARY; The justice of this the Lord confirms by the sentence of the Father's will, that they who disdain to be made babes in God, should become fools in their own wisdom; and therefore He adds, Even so, Father: for so it seemed good before you.

GREG; In which words we have a lesson of humility, that we should not rashly presume to discuss the counsels of heaven concerning the calling of home and the rejection of others; showing that that cannot be unrighteous which is willed by Him that is righteous.

JEROME; In these words moreover He speaks to the Father with the desire of one petitioning, that His mercy begun in the Apostles might be completed in them.

CHRYS; These things which the Lord spoke to His disciples, made them more zealous. As afterwards they thought great things of themselves, because they cast out demons, therefore He here reproves them; for what they had, was by revelation, not by their own efforts. The Scribes who esteemed themselves wise and understanding were excluded because of their pride, and therefore He says, Since on this account the mysteries of God were hid from them, fear you, and abide as babes, for this it is that has made you partakers in the revelation. But as when Paul says, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, he does not mean that God did this, but they who gave Him cause, so here, You have hid these things from the wise and understanding. And wherefore were they hid from them? Hear Paul speaking, Seeking to set up their own righteousness, they were not subject to the righteousness of God.

27. All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knows the Son, but the Father; neither knows any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

CHRYS; Because He had said, I confess to you, Father, because you have hid these things from the wise, that you should not suppose that He thus thanks the Father as though He Himself was excluded from this power, He adds, All things are committed to me by my Father. Hearing the words are committed, do not admit suspicion of any thing human, for He uses this word that you may not think there be two gods unbegotten. For at the time that He was begotten He was Lord of all.

JEROME; For if we conceive of this thing according to our weakness, when he who received begins to have, he who gives begins to be without. Or when He says, All things are committed to him, He may mean not the heaven and earth and the elements, and the rest of the things which He created and made, but those who through the Son have access to the Father.

HILARY; (that we may not think that there is any thing less in Him than in God, therefore He says this.

AUG; For if He has anything less in His power than the Father has, then all that the Father has, are not His; for by begetting Him Father gave power to the Son, as by begetting Him He gave all things which He has in His substance to Him whom He begot of His substance.

HILARY; And also in the mutual knowledge between the Father and the Son, He teaches us that there is nothing in the Son beyond what was in the Father; for it follows, And none knows the Son but the Father, nor does any man know the Father, but the Son.

CHRYS; By this that He only knows the Father, He show covertly that He is of one substance with the Father. As though He had said, What wonder if I be Lord of all, when I have somewhat hat yet greater, namely to know the Father and to be of the same substance with Him?

HILARY; For this mutual knowledge proclaims that they are of one substance since He that should know the Son, should know the Father also in the Son, since all things were delivered to Him by the Father.

CHRYS; When He says, Neither does any know the Father but the Son, He does not mean that all men are altogether ignorant of Him; but that none knows Him with that knowledge wherewith He knows Him; which may also be said of the Son. For it is not said of some unknown God as Marcion declares.

AUG; And because their substance is inseparable, it is enough sometimes to name the Father, sometimes the Son; nor is it possible to separate from either His Spirit who is especially called the Spirit of truth.

JEROME; Let the heretic Eunomius therefore blush here at who claims to himself such a knowledge of the Father and the Son, as they have one of another. But if he argues from what follows, and props up his madness by that, And he to whom the Son will reveal him, it is one thing to know what you know by equality with God, another to know it by His vouchsafing to reveal it.

AUG; The Father; is revealed by the Son, that is, by His Word. For if the temporal and transitory word which we utter both shows itself, and what we wish to convey, how much more the Word of God by which all things were made, which so shows the Father as He is Father, because itself is the same and in the same manner as the Father.

ID; When if He said, None knows the Son but the Father. He did not add, and he to whom the Father will reveal the Son. But when He said, None knows the Father but the Son, He added, And, he to whom the Son will reveal him. But this must not be so understood as though the Son could be known by none but by the Father only; while the Father may be known not only by the Son, but also by those to whom the Son shall reveal Him. But it is rather expressed thus, that we may understand that both the Father and the Son Himself are revealed by the Son, inasmuch as He is the light of our mind; and what is afterwards added, And he to whom the Son will reveal, is to be understood as spoken of the Son as well as the Father, and to refer to the whole of what had been said. For the Father declares Himself by His Word, but the Word declares not only that which is intended to be declared by it, but in declaring this declares itself.

CHRYS; If then He reveals the Father, He reveals Himself also. But the one he omits as a thing manifest, but mentions the other because there might be a doubt concerning it. Herein also He instructs us that He is so one with the Father, that it is not possible for any to come to the Father, but through the Son. For this had above all things given offense, that He seemed to be against God, and therefore He strove by all means to overthrow this notion.

Catena Aurea Matthew 11
23 posted on 07/17/2013 8:31:23 PM PDT by annalex (fear them not)
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To: annalex


Adoration of the Trinity

Vicente López y Portaña

1791-92
Oil on canvas, 112 x 80 cm
Private collection

24 posted on 07/17/2013 8:31:46 PM PDT by annalex (fear them not)
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To: Salvation

 

Daily Readings for: July 17, 2013
(Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: 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.

RECIPES

o    Oatmeal Carmelite Bars

ACTIVITIES

o    The Tempo of Life

PRAYERS

o    Novena to St. Anne

o    Prayer for obtaining graces through the intercession of the Blessed Carmelites of Compiègne

 

Ordinary Time: July 17th

Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time

 

Old Calendar: St. Alexis, confessor; The Blessed Martyrs of Compiegne (Hist)

St. Alexius was an Eastern saint whose veneration was transplanted from the Byzantine empire to Rome, whence it spread rapidly throughout western Christendom. Together with the name and veneration of the Saint, his legend was made known to Rome and the West by means of Latin versions based on the form current in the Byzantine Orient. He was famous for his extraordinary self-denial. Before the reform of the General Roman Calendar today was his feast.

Historically today is the feast of the Blessed Martyrs of Compiegne, sixteen Carmelites who are the first martyrs of the French Revolution that have been recognized. They were guillotined on 17 July 1794 at the Place du Trône Renversé (modern Place de la Nation) in Paris, France.


St. Alexis

To what extent the life and Acts of this saint are historical, whether this "man of God," as he was and is called in the Orient, lived in the East or at Rome — these are questions we here must pass over. The story of St. Alexius, one of the most edifying in Christian hagiography, presents a glorious illustration of that Christian ideal of perfection which for Christ's sake embraces poverty and humiliations. Is it possible to be more heroic than to live for seventeen years under the steps in one's own house, to endure the wanton affronts of one's father's slaves, to remain as an unknown beggar to father, mother, and a bride still longing for her spouse? And for Alexius all this was motivated by an insurmountable love of Christ! Even supposing the legend to lack an historical kernel, it still would be marvelous to find a religion that could create such an ideal.

The Breviary gives these details. Alexius belonged to a noble Roman family. Prompted by a special divine illumination and moved by an ardent love for Jesus Christ, he left his maiden bride upon their wedding day and began a pilgrimage to the more illustrious churches of Christendom. He had devoted seventeen years to this pilgrimage and was at Edessa, a Syrian city, when his holiness was revealed by a picture of the Blessed Virgin that uttered his name. He left the place and by boat arrived at the port of Rome. His father received him as a traveling stranger and he remained there seventeen years, living under the stairs of the house unrecognized by anyone. Only after his death were documents found giving his name, family, and a kind of autobiography. He died July 17, 417, during the pontificate of Pope Innocent I.

Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Patron: Of beggars and pilgrims.

Symbols: A beggar or pilgrim holding a staircase (his emblem); asleep by the stairs, dirty water emptied on him; as a pilgrim with a staff and scrip; as a pilgrim, kneeling before the pope, to whom he gives a letter.

Things to Do:

 


The Blessed Martyrs of Compiegne
On July 17, 1794, sixteen Carmelites caught up in the French Revolution were guillotined at the Place du Trône Renversé (now called Place de la Nation), in Paris.

When the revolution started in 1789, a group of twenty-one discalced Carmelites lived in a monastery in Compiegne France, founded in 1641. The monastery was ordered closed in 1790 by the Revolutionary government, and the nuns were disbanded. Sixteen of the nuns were accused of living in a religious community in 1794. They were arrested on June 22 and imprisoned in a Visitation convent in Compiegne There they openly resumed their religious life.

For a full twenty months before their execution, the sisters came together in an act of consecration “whereby each member of the community would join with the others in offering herself daily to God, soul and body in holocaust to restore peace to France and to her Church.”

The nuns were not just mere victims of the Revolution overcome by circumstances. Each contemplated her martyrdom; each understood her offering. Each sought that “greater love” of giving herself for her fellow man in imitation of the Divine Lamb Who redeemed humanity.

On July 12, 1794, the Carmelites were taken to Paris and five days later were sentenced to death. Before their execution they knelt and chanted the "Veni Creator", as at a profession, after which they all renewed aloud their baptismal and religious vows. They went to the guillotine singing the Salve Regina. They were beatified in 1906 by Pope St. Pius X.

The Carmelites were: Marie Claude Brard; Madeleine Brideau, the subprior; Maire Croissy, grandniece of Colbert Marie Dufour; Marie Hanisset; Marie Meunier, a novice; Rose de Neufville Annette Pebras; Anne Piedcourt: Madeleine Lidoine, the prioress; Angelique Roussel; Catherine Soiron and Therese Soiron, both extern sisters, natives of Compiegne and blood sisters: Anne Mary Thouret; Marie Trezelle; and Eliza beth Verolot. The martyrdom of the nuns was immortalized by the composer Francois Poulenc in his famous opera Dialogues des Carmelites.

Excerpted from Catholic Fire

Things to Do:

Visit this website for more information.


25 posted on 07/17/2013 9:06:42 PM PDT 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 July 17, 2013:

Prayer is good for anyone, at any time, but many couples are afraid to pray together. It may feel like letting another into one’s private world. Start with something simple, like an Our Father together before bedtime.

26 posted on 07/17/2013 9:16:10 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All
Vultus Christi

All things, even sin

Dom Mark

|


"Job says that "the life of man upon earth is a warfare and his days are like the days of a hireling." But upon His servants the Lord bestows His grace; although as Saint Paul says, "to them that love God all things work together unto good," to the very end. All things -- graces, natural qualities, contradictions, sickness, and, as Saint Augustine says, even sin. For God permits sin in the lives of His servants, as He permitted Peter's denial, that He may lead them to a deeper humility and thereby to a purer love."


27 posted on 07/17/2013 9:26:30 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Salvation
Regnum Christi

Knowing the Father and the Son
| SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY
Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time



Father Shawn Aaron, LC

Matthew 11: 25-27

At that time Jesus exclaimed: "I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.

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: Jesus, help me to seek you with a sincere heart.

1. Hidden from the Wise: Wisdom, knowledge and understanding comprise three of seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. So in itself, being wise and learned cannot be an issue. Jesus is here speaking of those whose pride and inflated ego make them wise and learned in their own estimation and for their own purposes. The mysteries of God are thus hidden from them precisely because they have focused their hearts and minds on themselves as the supreme good: "The greater a being is, the more it wants to determine its own life. It wants to be less and less dependent and, thus, more and more itself a kind of god, needing no one else at all. This is how the desire arises to become free of all need, what we call pride" (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, God and the World, p. 125). In the end, it is they who have closed the door to God since God will never close the door on us.

2. Revealed to the Childlike: Later in this same Gospel, Jesus will reaffirm this basic truth in another way: "Unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3). Even as adults we must never cease to be childlike, uncomplicated and duly dependent. Children are not naturally complicated and deceitful. Hiding behind masks and developing subterfuges is a tendency learned with time. Little by little we begin to calculate, use excuses, ration out our generosity, and stray from the simplicity and rectitude of the way God has marked out. We must strive to be sincere with our Lord and sincere with ourselves, seeking to please him above all things. Failure in our lives is due to insincerity, that absence of the total nobility and utmost loyalty needed to fulfill honorably what Our Lord asks of us.

3. Christ, The Revelation of the Father: Knowledge of the Father is the ultimate good man can possess because it corresponds to the deepest longing in the human heart for happiness. St. Thomas Aquinas tells us that happiness lies in knowing that we possess the good we seek. We call the full knowledge of the good possessed "heaven," which is our ultimate goal in life. To whom would Jesus not wish to reveal the Father? Has anyone ever lived for whom Jesus did not desire to know the Father and be in heaven? Jesus´ actions – his preaching, his sacrifices and death on the cross – demonstrate that he wants to reveal the Father to everyone. However he also chooses to need you and me to help him achieve this goal. Do I really desire everyone to know the Father and reach heaven? My actions will answer that question for me.

Conversation with Christ: Dear Lord, grant me the grace to possess the wisdom and knowledge that come from union with you while maintaining the childlike dispositions that you ask. Help me to depend on you as a loving child. Mother Most Pure, make my heart only for Jesus.

Resolution: Today I will reflectively read Philippians 2:5-11.


28 posted on 07/17/2013 9:30:55 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All
The Word Among Us

Meditation: Exodus 3:1-6, 9-12

15th Week in Ordinary Time

“I will be with you.” (Exodus 3:12)

If you’ve ever helped a child learn to ride a bike, you probably remember one important lesson: keep your eyes focused on where you’re going. If you start looking down at the road, nervous about potential obstacles, it will be a very short trip. But if you keep your eyes on the road ahead, you’ll be able to steer safely and go a lot farther.

When God told Moses that he had heard the cries of the Israelites and was prepared to deliver them, Moses didn’t celebrate. He probably wasn’t feeling very confident. He was living as a shepherd for his father-in-law in the wilderness. He had lost his status as a prince in Egypt after committing murder. And the Israelites might not trust him because he was raised as an Egyptian. So when he heard God’s call to lead Israel, he immediately thought of obstacles.

But God didn’t answer his objection. He simply said “I will be with you” (Exodus 3:12). Like a father running behind his child wobbling down the road on his new bike, God would be with Moses. Moses just had to keep looking forward, at the goal of his people’s liberation, instead of the obstacles. Real though they were, these obstacles couldn’t erase God’s call, because God himself would accompany Moses on the journey.

Each of us has been called by God. Each of us has a God-given path to follow. And certainly, each of us has obstacles in that path! But rather than focus on the obstacles, God wants us to lift up our eyes and focus on him and his calling.

Do you have a dream? Some vision of the wonderful things you’d like to accomplish for the Lord and his Church? It’s quite possible that those dreams come from the Lord—just as Moses’ dreams of a liberated Israel came from God. So don’t give up on them just because you see potential pitfalls. Keep on dreaming! Keep your eyes on the Lord and your dreams, not on the obstacles. Just as he told Moses, God is telling you, “I am with you. So let’s get going, you and me, together!”

“Heavenly Father, I believe you support me even when I feel inadequate. Help me keep my eyes on you and take each step in faith in your care.”

Psalm 103:1-4, 6-7; Matthew 11:25-27

 


29 posted on 07/17/2013 9:31:48 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All

Those to Whom the Son Chooses

by Food For Thought on July 17, 2013 ·

 

God will tell us his name, but we will be branded forever with fire
and will bear within us the scar of his devouring passion. No one can
see God without his eyes being burnt in the fire of the Spirit. No one
can taste God without his heart experiencing a new hunger. No one can
believe without his prayer becoming a cry of immense desire. No one
can speak about God without experiencing silence, for there are no
words to say the name of God.

“No one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son
chooses to reveal him.” Who has the ability to put into words the
glory of Jesus Christ, a man among men, the image of God in the form
off the humblest of human beings? God does not make noise. He reveals
himself in the signs of his presence, through faith, a faith that like
love is a fire.

“I bless you Father … for hiding these things from the learned and the
clever and revealing them to mere children.” Only a childlike heart
has access to true love and to faith. It is good for us that the fire
should keep us from drawing; near, for it is not possible to stare at
God as one stares at the statue of Jesus or Mother Mary.

“No one knows the Son except the Father.” It is good for us to
contemplate Jesus with faces veiled, for we cannot speak of him as we
would explain a mathematical problem or a geometrical theorem. Moses
covered his face because he was afraid to look at God. In a short
time, he will truly know God, for when his people leave the land of
slavery, he will see the God who saw the wretched state of his people
and heard their cries. We truly know the fire only when it has burned
us. We truly experience faith only when we experience the burning
touch of the Spirit.


30 posted on 07/17/2013 9:51:19 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All
One Bread, One Body

One Bread, One Body

Language: English | Español

All Issues > Volume 29, Issue 4

<< Wednesday, July 17, 2013 >>
 
Exodus 3:1-6, 9-12
View Readings
Psalm 103:1-4, 6-7 Matthew 11:25-27
Similar Reflections
 

THE BURNING LOVE OF GOD

 
"The bush, though on fire, was not consumed." —Exodus 3:2
 

Consider a burning candle. The flame on the candle eventually burns out when the wax is all consumed. In Jesus, however, we are not like candles which burn out, but rather like the burning bush, which is neither burned out nor consumed (Ex 3:2).

Some people are afraid to receive God's love. They fear that the fire of God's love will consume them (Heb 12:29), and they will never be the same. Immersed in God's love, they know they'll have to repent and be dedicated to holiness (Ex 3:5). Yet just as Moses was drawn to the burning bush by the awesomeness of the sight, God's love attracts people despite their fears.

God's burning love is a Trinity-love, the fire of love which perpetually arcs between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God pours this burning Trinity-love, consuming but not destructive, into our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Rm 5:5). Nothing can separate us from this love (Rm 8:38-39).

Be like Moses. Walk toward God, not away from Him. Remove not only your sandals, but any love for the things of the world (1 Jn 2:15). Don't be afraid of the overpowering love of God. Many have been hurt by failed human love, but the love of God never fails (1 Cor 13:8). Abandon yourself to God's love. Your entire life has been a search for His love. Be true to yourself and true to God. Live in His love (Jn 15:9).

 
Prayer: Triune God, change me from being a consumer into being the consumed. I yield totally to Your burning love.
Promise: "The Lord secures justice and the rights of all the oppressed." —Ps 103:6
Praise: After years away from the sacraments, Dora allowed God entrance into her heart and became a daily communicant.

31 posted on 07/17/2013 9:54:20 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Salvation

May each father love his child as God has loved him.

32 posted on 07/17/2013 9:58:05 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All

 

 
Jesus, High Priest
 

We thank you, God our Father, for those who have responded to your call to priestly ministry.

Accept this prayer we offer on their behalf: Fill your priests with the sure knowledge of your love.

Open their hearts to the power and consolation of the Holy Spirit.

Lead them to new depths of union with your Son.

Increase in them profound faith in the Sacraments they celebrate as they nourish, strengthen and heal us.

Lord Jesus Christ, grant that these, your priests, may inspire us to strive for holiness by the power of their example, as men of prayer who ponder your word and follow your will.

O Mary, Mother of Christ and our mother, guard with your maternal care these chosen ones, so dear to the Heart of your Son.

Intercede for our priests, that offering the Sacrifice of your Son, they may be conformed more each day to the image of your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Saint John Vianney, universal patron of priests, pray for us and our priests

This icon shows Jesus Christ, our eternal high priest.

The gold pelican over His heart represents self-sacrifice.

The border contains an altar and grapevines, representing the Mass, and icons of Melchizedek and St. Jean-Baptiste Vianney.

Melchizedek: king of righteousness (left icon) was priest and king of Jerusalem.  He blessed Abraham and has been considered an ideal priest-king.

St. Jean-Baptiste Vianney is the patron saint of parish priests.


33 posted on 07/17/2013 10:24:39 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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