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May 19, 2013 Pentecost Sunday - Mass during the Day   Reading 1 Acts 2:1-11 When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled,they were all in one place together.And suddenly there came from the skya noise like a strong driving wind,and it filled the entire house in which they were.Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire,which parted and came to rest on each one of them.And they were all filled with the Holy Spiritand began to speak in different tongues,as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heavenstaying in Jerusalem.At...

May 19, 2013 Pentecost Sunday - At the Vigil Mass   Reading 1 Gn 11:1-9 The whole world spoke the same language, using the same words.While the people were migrating in the east,they came upon a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there.They said to one another,“Come, let us mold bricks and harden them with fire.”They used bricks for stone, and bitumen for mortar.Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a cityand a tower with its top in the sky,and so make a name for ourselves;otherwise we shall be scattered all over the earth.” The LORD...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 29 A Psalm of David. 1. Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength. 2. Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. 3. The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters. 4. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. 5. The voice of the LORD breaketh the cedars; yea, the LORD breaketh the cedars...

Living Simply— Yet Focused "Look at the birds of the air . . . . Consider the lilies of the field . . ." —Matthew 6:26, 28 Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin�— they simply are! Think of the sea, the air, the sun, the stars, and the moon— all of these simply are as well— yet what a ministry and service they render on our behalf! So often we impair God’s designed influence, which He desires to exhibit through us, because of our own conscious efforts to be consistent and...

May 18, 2013   Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter   Reading 1 Acts 28:16-20, 30-31 When he entered Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself,with the soldier who was guarding him. Three days later he called together the leaders of the Jews.When they had gathered he said to them, “My brothers,although I had done nothing against our peopleor our ancestral customs,I was handed over to the Romans as a prisoner from Jerusalem.After trying my case the Romans wanted to release me,because they found nothing against me deserving the death penalty.But when the Jews objected, I was...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 32 A Maskil of David. 1. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. 3. When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. 4. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah. 5. I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will...

His Ascension and Our Access "It came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven" —Luke 24:51 We have no experiences in our lives that correspond to the events in our Lord’s life after the transfiguration. From that moment forward His life was altogether substitutionary. Up to the time of the transfiguration, He had exhibited the normal, perfect life of a man. But from the transfiguration forward— Gethsemane, the Cross, the resurrection— everything is unfamiliar to us. His Cross is the door by which every member of the human race...

May 17, 2013 Friday of the Seventh Week of Easter   Reading 1 Acts 25:13b-21 King Agrippa and Bernice arrived in Caesareaon a visit to Festus.Since they spent several days there,Festus referred Paul’s case to the king, saying,“There is a man here left in custody by Felix.When I was in Jerusalem the chief priests and the elders of the Jewsbrought charges against him and demanded his condemnation.I answered them that it was not Roman practiceto hand over an accused person before he has faced his accusersand had the opportunity to defend himself against their charge.So when they came together...

The Baltimore Catechism Revised Edition (1941) Part Three: The Sacraments and Prayer Prayer Lesson 37 from the Baltimore Cathechism475. What is prayer? Prayer is the lifting up of our minds and hearts to God.Let us lift up our hearts with our hands to the Lord in the heavens. (Lamentations 3:41)476. Why do we pray? We pray: to adore God, expressing to Him our love and loyalty; to thank Him for His favors; to obtain from Him the pardon of our sins and the remission of their punishment; to ask for graces and blessings for ourselves and others. Watch and pray,...

Isaiah 26:8 O Lord, we Love to Do Your Will! Our Heart's Desire is to Glorify Your Name.

Franklin Graham calls IRS probe of ministry finances ‘un-American’ Adelle M. Banks | May 15, 2013 (RNS) Evangelist Franklin Graham blasted the Internal Revenue Service probe of conservative nonprofit groups as “un-American,” saying both the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the relief group Samaritan’s Purse were audited by the IRS. In a Tuesday (May 14) letter to President Obama, Graham said the two organizations he leads were notified last September that the IRS would review their records for the 2010 tax year. The IRS inquiry, he noted, occurred months after the BGEA ran ads in April 2012 supporting a North...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 38 A Psalm of David. To bring to remembrance. 1. O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your wrath, Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure! 2. For Your arrows pierce me deeply, And Your hand presses me down. 3. There is no soundness in my flesh Because of Your anger, Nor any health in my bones Because of my sin. 4. For my iniquities have gone over my head; Like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me. 5. My wounds are foul and festering Because of my foolishness. 6....

The Habit of Recognizing God’s Provision ". . . you may be partakers of the divine nature . . ." —2 Peter 1:4 We are made “partakers of the divine nature,� receiving and sharing God’s own nature through His promises. Then we have to work that divine nature into our human nature by developing godly habits. The first habit to develop is the habit of recognizing God’s provision for us. We say, however, “Oh, I can’t afford it.� One of the worst lies is wrapped up in that statement. We talk as if our heavenly Father has cut us...

May 16, 2013   Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter   Reading 1 Acts 22:30; 23:6-11 Wishing to determine the truthabout why Paul was being accused by the Jews,the commander freed himand ordered the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin to convene.Then he brought Paul down and made him stand before them. Paul was aware that some were Sadducees and some Pharisees,so he called out before the Sanhedrin,“My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees;I am on trial for hope in the resurrection of the dead.”When he said this,a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and...

Featured Term (selected at random):FAMILY ROSARY International movement promoting recitation of the Rosary by the members of a family at home. Encouraged by the popes, the practice was singled out for special recommendation by Pope Paul VI in his Apostolic Exhortation in 1974 on devotion to the Blessed Virgin. "There is no doubt," he declared, "that after the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours, the high point which family prayer can reach, the Rosary, should be considered as one of the best and most efficacious prayers in common that the Christian family is invited to recite" (Marialis Cultus, 54)....

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 42 To the Chief Musician. A Contemplation of the sons of Korah. 1. As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. 2. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? 3. My tears have been my food day and night, While they continually say to me, “Where is your God?” 4. When I remember these things, I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go with the multitude; I went with them...

The Habit of Rising to the Occasion ". . . that you may know what is the hope of His calling . . ." —Ephesians 1:18 Remember that you have been saved so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in your body (see 2 Corinthians 4:10). Direct the total energy of your powers so that you may achieve everything your election as a child of God provides; rise every time to whatever occasion may come your way.You did not do anything to achieve your salvation, but you must do something to exhibit it. You must “work out...

May 15, 2013 Wednesday of the Seventh Week of Easter   Reading 1 Acts 20:28-38 At Miletus, Paul spoke to the presbyters of the Church of Ephesus:“Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flockof which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers,in which you tend the Church of Godthat he acquired with his own Blood.I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you,and they will not spare the flock.And from your own group, men will come forward perverting the truthto draw the disciples away after them.So be vigilant and remember that for three years, night...

Tuesday, May 14, 2013 Did Obama's IRS also harass pro-life groups? WASHINGTON - With the revelation that the Obama Administration's Internal Revenue Service harassed and beleaguered groups seeking tax exemption status if their names included "Tea Party" or "Patriots," and then later admitting they targeted groups with purposes of promoting limited government and other conservative missions, questions are being raised about other targeted groups. Were pro-life groups also a target of the staunchly pro-abortion Obama Administration? Chicago's Thomas More Society reported first dealing with IRS concerns from pro-life groups as early as 2009. When the Coalition for Life of Iowa...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 62 To the Chief Musician. To Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. 1. Truly my soul silently waits for God; From Him comes my salvation. 2. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved. 3. How long will you attack a man? You shall be slain, all of you, Like a leaning wall and a tottering fence. 4. They only consult to cast him down from his high position; They delight in lies; They bless with their mouth, But they curse inwardly. Selah...

The Habit of Enjoying Adversity ". . . that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body" —2 Corinthians 4:10 We have to develop godly habits to express what God’s grace has done in us. It is not just a question of being saved from hell, but of being saved so that “the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.� And it is adversity that makes us exhibit His life in our mortal flesh. Is my life exhibiting the essence of the sweetness of the Son of God, or just the basic irritation...

REGRETS Dearest Lord, receive here my regrets, my sorrows for having offended You. I am so sorry; there is nothing I can do to undo the damages I have inflicted on Your all-loving heart and on souls. I can only now beg Your forgiveness and mercy which I know You will grant me with fullness of joy and kindness. My Lord is slow in anger and full of compassion; He knows full well my poverty, my miserable weakness, my total dependence upon His generosity. I come to You, O Lord, like a beggar for Your riches, like a gravest sinner...

May 14, 2013 Feast of Saint Matthias, Apostle   Reading 1 Acts 1:15-17, 20-26 Peter stood up in the midst of the brothers and sisters(there was a group of about one hundred and twenty personsin the one place).He said, “My brothers and sisters,the Scripture had to be fulfilledwhich the Holy Spirit spoke beforehandthrough the mouth of David, concerning Judas,who was the guide for those who arrested Jesus.Judas was numbered among usand was allotted a share in this ministry.For it is written in the Book of Psalms: Let his encampment become desolate,and may no one dwell in it.and:May another take...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 26 A Psalm of David. 1. Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide. 2. Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart. 3. For thy loving-kindness is before mine eyes: and I have walked in thy truth. 4. I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers. 5. I have hated the congregation of evildoers; and will not sit with the wicked. 6. I will wash...

The Habit of Keeping a Clear Conscience ". . . strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men" —Acts 24:16 God’s commands to us are actually given to the life of His Son in us. Consequently, to our human nature in which God’s Son has been formed (see Galatians 4:19), His commands are difficult. But they become divinely easy once we obey.Conscience is that ability within me that attaches itself to the highest standard I know, and then continually reminds me of what that standard demands that I do. It is the eye of the soul...

May 13, 2013 Monday of the Seventh Week of Easter   Reading 1 Acts 19:1-8 While Apollos was in Corinth,Paul traveled through the interior of the countryand down to Ephesus where he found some disciples. He said to them,“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?”They answered him,“We have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”He said, “How were you baptized?”They replied, “With the baptism of John.”Paul then said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance,telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him,that is, in Jesus.”When they heard this,they...

Read aloud this desperate and heartfelt prayer with me; As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God? When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 41 To the Chief Musician.A Psalm of David. 1. Blessed is he who considers the poor; The LORD will deliver him in time of trouble. 2. The LORD will preserve him and keep him alive, And he will be blessed on the earth; You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies. 3. The LORD will strengthen him on his bed of illness; You will sustain him on his sickbed. 4. I said, “LORD, be merciful to me; Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.” 5. My enemies...

Pray For Our American Heroes and Our Nation Psalm 3 A Psalm of David. 1. Lord, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me. 2. Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah. 3. But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. 4. I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah. 5. I laid me down and slept; I awoke; for the LORD...

The Habit of Having No Habits "If these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful . . ." —2 Peter 1:8 When we first begin to form a habit, we are fully aware of it. There are times when we are aware of becoming virtuous and godly, but this awareness should only be a stage we quickly pass through as we grow spiritually. If we stop at this stage, we will develop a sense of spiritual pride. The right thing to do with godly habits is to immerse them in the life of the...

May 12, 2013 Seventh Sunday of Easter   Reading 1 Acts 7:55-60 Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit,looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of Godand Jesus standing at the right hand of God,and Stephen said, “Behold, I see the heavens openedand the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”But they cried out in a loud voice,covered their ears, and rushed upon him together.They threw him out of the city, and began to stone him.The witnesses laid down their cloaksat the feet of a young man named Saul.As they were stoning Stephen, he called...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 35 A Psalm of David. 1. Plead my cause, O LORD, with those who strive with me; Fight against those who fight against me. 2. Take hold of shield and buckler, And stand up for my help. 3. Also draw out the spear, And stop those who pursue me. Say to my soul, “I am your salvation.” 4. Let those be put to shame and brought to dishonor Who seek after my life; Let those be turned back and brought to confusion Who plot my hurt. 5. Let them be like chaff...

“Love One Another” ". . . add to your . . . brotherly kindness love" —2 Peter 1:5, 7 Love is an indefinite thing to most of us; we don’t know what we mean when we talk about love. Love is the loftiest preference of one person for another, and spiritually Jesus demands that this sovereign preference be for Himself (see Luke 14:26). Initially, when “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit� (Romans 5:5), it is easy to put Jesus first. But then we must practice the things mentioned in 2...

My story begins in mid-December 2001. I was newly married, healthy, excited and shocked to be carrying twins! All had been going along in the pregnancy just fine until one Saturday morning. I noticed something was not quite right so I called my doctor, hoping he would say, “Don’t worry. Everything will be just fine.” I had just been at his office the day before for a routine check-up. He told me that from this point forward, even though I was only 26 weeks along in my pregnancy, to call if I sensed anything out of the ordinary. That’s called...

May 11, 2013   Saturday of the Sixth Week of Easter   Reading 1 Acts 18:23-28 After staying in Antioch some time,Paul left and traveled in orderly sequencethrough the Galatian country and Phrygia,bringing strength to all the disciples. A Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria,an eloquent speaker, arrived in Ephesus.He was an authority on the Scriptures.He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord and,with ardent spirit, spoke and taught accurately about Jesus,although he knew only the baptism of John.He began to speak boldly in the synagogue;but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him,they took him asideand explained...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 3 A Psalm of David. 1. Lord, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me. 2. Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah. 3. But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. 4. I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah. 5. I laid me down and slept; I awoke; for the LORD sustained me....

May 10, 2013   Friday of the Sixth Week of Easter   Reading 1 Acts 18:9-18 One night while Paul was in Corinth, the Lord said to him in a vision,“Do not be afraid.Go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you.No one will attack and harm you,for I have many people in this city.”He settled there for a year and a halfand taught the word of God among them. But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia,the Jews rose up together against Pauland brought him to the tribunal, saying,“This man is inducing people to worship...

Isaiah 25:1 O Lord, I will Honor and Praise Your Name, for You are my God; You Do Such Wonderful Things!

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 9 For the director of music. To the tune of "The Death of the Son."A Psalm of David. 1. [a]I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. 2. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. 3. My enemies turn back; they stumble and perish before you. 4. For you have upheld my right and my cause; you have sat on your throne, judging righteously. 5. You have rebuked the nations and destroyed...

NORTH COUNTY — A motorcyclist was seriously injured Wednesday night while escorting a funeral procession on westbound state Route 78 east of Mar Vista Drive, the California Highway Patrol said. About 6:40 p.m., witnesses said the rider slumped over the handlebars of his 2008 Harley-Davidson, which veered right and struck an asphalt curb on the shoulder, CHP Officer Chris Parent said. He was traveling about 65 mph at the time.

May 9, 2013    Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord   Reading 1 Acts 1:1-11 In the first book, Theophilus,I dealt with all that Jesus did and taughtuntil the day he was taken up,after giving instructions through the Holy Spiritto the apostles whom he had chosen.He presented himself alive to themby many proofs after he had suffered,appearing to them during forty daysand speaking about the kingdom of God.While meeting with them,he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem,but to wait for “the promise of the Fatherabout which you have heard me speak;for John baptized with water,but in a...

I need some prayers and good thoughts since my mother was just diagnosed with breast cancer and we are just beginning to fight it. She goes for a PET scan tomorrow and also to an oncologist to get meds to shrink the cancer. She also has a good doctor, some friends and acquaintances have the same one and many women have kicked it with her help plus the doctors say, "don't worry, we have many ways to fight it." Many thanks to all.

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 14 1. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. 2. The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. 3. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 4. Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call...

May 8, 2013   Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter   Reading 1 Acts 17:15, 22—18:1 After Paul’s escorts had taken him to Athens,they came away with instructions for Silas and Timothyto join him as soon as possible. Then Paul stood up at the Areopagus and said:“You Athenians, I see that in every respectyou are very religious.For as I walked around looking carefully at your shrines,I even discovered an altar inscribed, ‘To an Unknown God.’What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you.The God who made the world and all that is in it,the Lord of heaven and...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 36 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD. 1. An oracle within my heart concerning the transgression of the wicked: There is no fear of God before his eyes. 2. For he flatters himself in his own eyes, When he finds out his iniquity and when he hates. 3. The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit; He has ceased to be wise and to do good. 4. He devises wickedness on his bed; He sets himself in a way that is not good; He...

May 7, 2013 Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Easter   Reading 1 Acts 16:22-34 The crowd in Philippi joined in the attack on Paul and Silas,and the magistrates had them strippedand ordered them to be beaten with rods.After inflicting many blows on them,they threw them into prisonand instructed the jailer to guard them securely.When he received these instructions, he put them in the innermost celland secured their feet to a stake. About midnight, while Paul and Silas were prayingand singing hymns to God as the prisoners listened,there was suddenly such a severe earthquakethat the foundations of the jail...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 43 1. Judge me, O God, And plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O Deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man. 2. For thou art the God of my strength: Why dost thou cast me off? Why go I mourning Because of the oppression of the enemy? 3. O send out thy light and thy truth: Let them lead me; Let them bring me unto thy holy hill, And to thy tabernacles. 4. Then will I go unto the altar of God, Unto God my exceeding joy: Yea, upon the...

MY OFFERING: I offer You Lord my heart which is full of You. It belongs to You because it contains nothing but You. I offer You my mind because on which You have imprinted Your facial Image. May I now worship the sacred relic day and night painted on my soul. May the world no longer see me but the Christ crucified in me for the only thing I truly long for is being crucified with the Lord to be able to love Him to the fullest. I offer You Lord my eyes which no longer capable of seeing any...