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July 16, 2014Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 Is 10:5-7, 13b-16 Thus says the LORD:Woe to Assyria! My rod in anger,my staff in wrath.Against an impious nation I send him,and against a people under my wrath I order himTo seize plunder, carry off loot,and tread them down like the mud of the streets.But this is not what he intends,nor does he have this in mind;Rather, it is in his heart to destroy,to make an end of nations not a few. For he says:“By my own power I have done it,and by my wisdom, for...

Along with Mass and adoration, the Dominican sisters at the Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary in Summit, N.J., gather for prayer seven times a day. Courtesy photo Within the walls of the Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary in Summit, New Jersey, rows of simple crosses mark the graves of sisters who have gone before. It’s a potent symbol of life in the monastery, where women enter cloistered life intending never to leave, even in death.These Dominican nuns have been in this place of peace for almost 100 years, sustaining the Church every day through their prayer...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Animals In The Bible Genesis 8 Noah and the Flood New International Version (NIV)  But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded. 2 Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky. 3 The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down, 4 and on the...

I am asleep, but my heart is awake Song of Songs 5:2 Our sages tell us that “when King Solomon built the Holy Temple, knowing that it was destined to be destroyed, he built a place in which to hide the Ark, [at the end of] hidden, deep, winding passageways.”1 It was there that King Josiah placed the Ark twenty-two years before the Temple’s destruction, as related in the Book of Chronicles.2

Joel 1:19 To you, O Lord, I call. . .

July 15, 2014Memorial of Saint Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church    Reading 1 Is 7:1-9 In the days of Ahaz, king of Judah, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah,Rezin, king of Aram,and Pekah, king of Israel, son of Remaliah,went up to attack Jerusalem,but they were not able to conquer it.When word came to the house of David that Aramwas encamped in Ephraim,the heart of the king and the heart of the people trembled,as the trees of the forest tremble in the wind. Then the LORD said to Isaiah: Go out to meet Ahaz,you and your son Shear-jashub,at...

The top-rated tourist attraction in Columbus is not our highly regarded zoo. It’s an obscure museum of religious artifacts.So says TripAdvisor, the influential travel website (www.tripadvisor.com) that uses consumer reviews to compile rankings.In fact, you won’t find the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium anywhere on the TripAdvisor list of 70 or so Columbus destinations.Why? It’s in Powell. By TripAdvisor’s organizational principles, the zoo isn’t a Columbus attraction. (TripAdvisor’s Columbus site, however, has articles on the zoo.)In a way, I’m happy about the situation because, although the zoo doesn’t need TripAdvisor’s help to attract tourists, the Jubilee Museum does. And it deserves...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Animals In The Bible Genesis 6 Noah and the Flood New International Version (NIV) Noah and the Flood 9 This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth. 11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to...

July 14, 2014Memorial of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin    Reading 1 Is 1:10-17 Hear the word of the LORD,princes of Sodom!Listen to the instruction of our God,people of Gomorrah!What care I for the number of your sacrifices?says the LORD.I have had enough of whole-burnt ramsand fat of fatlings;In the blood of calves, lambs and goatsI find no pleasure. When you come in to visit me,who asks these things of you?Trample my courts no more!Bring no more worthless offerings;your incense is loathsome to me.New moon and sabbath, calling of assemblies,octaves with wickedness: these I cannot bear.Your new moons and festivals...

EPISTLE I Peter 3:8-15 Dearly beloved: Be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, being lovers of the brotherhood, merciful, modest, humble: Not rendering evil for evil, nor railing for railing, but contrariwise, blessing: for unto this are you called, that you may inherit a blessing. For he that will love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile. Let him decline from evil and do good: Let him seek after peace and pursue it: Because the eyes of the Lord are upon the just,...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Animals In The Bible Genesis 4 Livestock New International Version (NIV) 4 Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.” 2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock....

July 13, 2014Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 Is 55:10-11 Thus says the LORD:Just as from the heavensthe rain and snow come downand do not return theretill they have watered the earth,making it fertile and fruitful,giving seed to the one who sowsand bread to the one who eats,so shall my word bethat goes forth from my mouth;my word shall not return to me void,but shall do my will,achieving the end for which I sent it. Responsorial Psalm Ps 65:10, 11, 12-13, 14 R/ (Lk 8:8) The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest.You...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Animals In The Bible Genesis 3 The Serpent New International Version (NIV) Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will...

There is a powerful principle in The Bible that we need to get a hold of. The principle of putting God's word in your mouth. From the beginning of time God breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life. Now, that breathe was not God blowing into man's nostrils. When he breathed into man's nostrils he spoke. Notice, Psalm 33:6 says, "By the word of Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth." So, the breath of God and the word of God are the same. And it was that breath...

July 12, 2014Saturday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 Is 6:1-8 In the year King Uzziah died,I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne,with the train of his garment filling the temple.Seraphim were stationed above; each of them had six wings:with two they veiled their faces,with two they veiled their feet,and with two they hovered aloft. They cried one to the other,“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts!All the earth is filled with his glory!”At the sound of that cry, the frame of the door shookand the house was filled with...

One of the basic principles of modern architecture is “form follows function.” In other words, ask what a building is for and you will know how it should be built. When you are building a garage or an office building or a hospital or a school things a fairly straightforward: a garage is to protect a car and store things. An office building is a place where people work safely and efficiently. A hospital has to have everything necessary for the health care, treatment and comfort of its patients. That’s easy enough.Architects will quibble about the “form follows function”...

July 11, 2014Memorial of Saint Benedict, Abbot    Reading 1 Hos 14:2-10 Thus says the LORD:Return, O Israel, to the LORD, your God;you have collapsed through your guilt.Take with you words,and return to the LORD;Say to him, “Forgive all iniquity,and receive what is good, that we may renderas offerings the bullocks from our stalls.Assyria will not save us,nor shall we have horses to mount;We shall say no more, ‘Our god,’to the work of our hands;for in you the orphan finds compassion.”I will heal their defection, says the LORD,I will love them freely;for my wrath is turned away from them.I...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Animals In The Bible Genesis Creation New International Version (NIV) …28God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth." 29Then God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; 30and to every beast...

Pray For Our American Heroes and Our Nation Images from The Postman (1997) The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. Luke 4:18-19 (NIV) ----

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Animals In The Bible Genesis Creation New International Version (NIV) 20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the...