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Pray For Our American Heroes and Our Nation Stand Firm Psalms 29:11 May the LORD give strength to his people! May the LORD bless his people with peace!

Three Helpful Prayers from the Roman Missal for Those Living in Dark and Difficult Times Msgr. Charles Pope • July 14, 2015 • One of the great and often-missed moments in the Mass is the opening prayer, also known as the “collect.” It is called this because after priest says to the faithful, “Let us pray,” he waits a moment as they do so and then “collects” their prayers and directs them to God.Most of the collects (pronounced káh’-lects) are quite ancient and are minor masterpieces. They are succinct, like most of the prayers of the Roman Rite, and...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Character Studies From The Bible Elijah 18 After a long time, in the third year, the word of the Lord came to Elijah: “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land.” 2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria, 3 and Ahab had summoned Obadiah, his palace administrator. (Obadiah was a devout believer in the Lord. 4 While Jezebel was killing off the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves, fifty in each, and had supplied...

July 15, 2015   Memorial of Saint Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church 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 fireflaming 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...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Character Studies From The Bible Elijah 17 Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. 18 She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?” 19 “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. 20 Then he cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God,...

Uzziah kept on seeking God … and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him prosperous…God helped Uzziah defeat the Philistines, the Arabians , the Meunites. The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah, and his reputation extended as far as the border with Egypt as he became stronger and stronger… he also possessed large herds…He had many farmers and vinedressers throughout the hills and fertile lands because he loved farming. Uzziah kept a standing army, equipped for battle, garrisoned in divisions according to an organizational structure …In addition, Uzziah equipped the entire army with shields, spears, helmets, body...

July 14, 2015   Memorial of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin Reading 1 Ex 2:1-15a A certain man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman,who conceived and bore a son.Seeing that he was a goodly child, she hid him for three months.When she could hide him no longer, she took a papyrus basket,daubed it with bitumen and pitch,and putting the child in it,placed it among the reeds on the river bank.His sister stationed herself at a distanceto find out what would happen to him. Pharaoh’s daughter came down to the river to bathe,while her maids walked along the river...

Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with You. Do not be Dismayed; I am Your God. I will Strengthen you; I will Help you; I will Uphold you with My Victorious Right Hand.

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Character Studies From The Bible Elijah 7 Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 8 Then the word of the Lord came to him: 9 “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” 10 So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have...

July 13, 2015 Monday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Ex 1:8-14, 22 A new king, who knew nothing of Joseph, came to power in Egypt.He said to his subjects, “Look how numerous and powerfulthe people of the children of Israel are growing, more so than we ourselves!Come, let us deal shrewdly with them to stop their increase;otherwise, in time of war they too may join our enemiesto fight against us, and so leave our country.” Accordingly, taskmasters were set over the children of Israelto oppress them with forced labor.Thus they had to build for Pharaohthe...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Character Studies From The Bible Elijah 2 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: 3 “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. 4 You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.” 5 So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. (1...

July 12, 2015 Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Am 7:12-15 Amaziah, priest of Bethel, said to Amos,“Off with you, visionary, flee to the land of Judah! There earn your bread by prophesying,but never again prophesy in Bethel;for it is the king’s sanctuary and a royal temple.” Amos answered Amaziah, “I was no prophet,nor have I belonged to a company of prophets;I was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamores. The LORD took me from following the flock, and said to me,Go, prophesy to my people Israel.” Responsorial Psalm Ps 85:9-10, 11-12, 13-14 R. (8) Lord, let us...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Character Studies From The Bible Elijah 17 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe[a] in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.” (1 Kings 17) New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

July 11, 2015   Memorial of Saint Benedict, Abbot Reading 1 Gn 49:29-32; 50:15-26a Jacob gave his sons this charge:“Since I am about to be taken to my people,bury me with my fathers in the cave that liesin the field of Ephron the Hittite,the cave in the field of Machpelah,facing on Mamre, in the land of Canaan,the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittitefor a burial ground.There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried,and so are Isaac and his wife Rebekah,and there, too, I buried Leah–the field and the cave in itthat had been purchased from the Hittites.”...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Character Studies From The Bible Jeroboam 13 By the word of the Lord a man of God came from Judah to Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make an offering. 2 By the word of the Lord he cried out against the altar: “Altar, altar! This is what the Lord says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.’” 3 That same day the man of...

Pray For Our American Heroes and Our Nation The Black-Robed Regiment You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. Galatians 5:13 (NIV) ----

July 10, 2015   Friday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Gn 46:1-7, 28-30 Israel set out with all that was his.When he arrived at Beer-sheba,he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.There God, speaking to Israel in a vision by night, called,“Jacob! Jacob!”He answered, “Here I am.”Then he said: “I am God, the God of your father.Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt,for there I will make you a great nation.Not only will I go down to Egypt with you;I will also bring you back here, after Joseph has closed your eyes.”...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Character Studies From The Bible Jeroboam 25 Then Jeroboam fortified Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went out and built up Peniel. 26 Jeroboam thought to himself, “The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. 27 If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.” 28 After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to...

Pray For Our American Heroes and Our Nation Stand Firm Psalms 18:31-36 For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?—the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless. He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights. He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me, and your gentleness made me great. You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did...