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TRÁI TIM
MẸ: NƠI CON NƯƠNG NÁU - ĐƯỜNG ĐẾN VỚI CHÚA |
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"Chúa Giêsu muốn dùng con để làm
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November 20/2009 - Friday
33rd Week
of
Ordinary Time
LITURGICAL/THEME MEDITATION:
"All the people hung upon his words "
UNIVERSAL CHURCH/WORLD EVENT(S):
Beatifying John Paul II?
Maybe
SAINT OF THE DAY
St. Rose Philippine Duchesne
GENERAL
MARIOLOGY
Nativity of the
Virgin Mary
DIVINE MERCY
Divine Mercy in My Soul
My
Preparation for Holy Communion
TEACHING/TESTIMONY/CONVICTION:
Where is God When We Suffer?
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DAILY LITURGICAL MEDITATION |
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Friday (11/20): "All the people hung upon his
words "
Scripture: Luke 19:45-48
45 And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold,
46 saying to them, "It is written, `My house shall be a house of
prayer'; but you have made it a den of robbers." 47 And he was teaching
daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal
men of the people sought to destroy him; 48 but they did not find
anything they could do, for all the people hung upon his words.
Meditation: Why did Jesus drive out the money changers in the
temple at Jerusalem? Was he upset with their greediness? This is the
only incident in the Gospels where we see Jesus using physical force.
Jesus went to Jerusalem, knowing he would meet certain death on the
cross, but victory as well for our sake. His act of judgment in the
temple is meant to be a prophetic sign and warning to the people that
God takes our worship very seriously. In this incident we see Jesus'
startling and swift action in cleansing the temple of those who were
using it to exploit the worshipers of God. The money changers took
advantage of the poor and forced them to pay many times more than was
right – in the house of God no less! Their robbery of the poor was not
only dishonoring to God but unjust toward their neighbor. In
justification for his audacious action Jesus quotes from the prophets
Isaiah (Isaiah 56:7) and Jeremiah (Jeremiah 7:11). His act of judgment
aims to purify the worship of God's people and to discipline their
erring ways. Despite the objections of the religious leaders, no doubt
because Jesus was usurping their authority in the house of God, the
people who listened to Jesus teaching daily in the temple regarded him
with great awe and respect. Luke tells us that "they hung upon Jesus'
words" (Luke 19:48). How hungry are you for God's word?
If we approach God's word with a humble attentive heart and with a
willingness to be taught by the Lord, then we are in a good place to
allow God's word to change and transform us in the likeness of Christ.
The Lord wants to teach us his ways so that we may grow in holiness. The
Lord both instructs and disciplines us in love to lead us from the error
of our sinful ways to his truth and justice. "God disciplines us for our
good, that we may share in his holiness" (Hebrews 12:10). The Lord calls
us to be a holy people who worship him with reverence and gratitude for
his great mercy and kindness towards us. Do you allow God's word to
transform you in his way of love and holiness?
"Lord Jesus, you open wide the door of your house and you bid us to
enter confidently that we may worship you in spirit and truth. Help me
to draw near to you with gratitude and joy for your great mercy. May I
always revere your word and give you acceptable praise and worship."
Psalm 1
1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor
stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates
day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit
in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he
prospers.
4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff which the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in
the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked
will perish.
www.dailyscripture.net
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UNIVERSAL CHURCH/WORLD EVENTS |
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Beatifying
John Paul
II? Maybe
But No
Date Yet
By Jesús
Colina
VATICAN
CITY,
NOV. 19,
2009 (<A
href="http://www.zenit.org">Zenit.org</A>).-
Bloggers
are
abuzz
lately
about a
date for
the
beatification
of Pope
John
Paul II.
But the
truth is
less
exciting
than
their
posts:
So far
any
proposed
date is
just a
guess,
or at
best, an
expert's
calculation.
The
Polish
Pope's
longtime
secretary,
Cardinal
Stanislaw
Dziwisz,
archbishop
of
Krakow,
said
Wednesday
while in
Argentina,
"It all
depends
on the
Pope."
There
was a
meeting
Nov. 16
at the
Congregation
for
Saints'
Causes
on the
possibly
heroic
virtue
of Pope
Wojtyla.
But
given
that the
participants'
vote is
subject
to papal
secrecy,
to ask
about or
publish
the
result
means to
collaborate
in the
violation
of this
secret.
According
to the
process
for
beatification
and
canonization,
in case
the
result
was
positive,
it now
corresponds
to the
Pope to
sign the
decree
of
heroic
virtues.
If
everything
has
stayed
on
schedule,
according
to the
calendar,
the
decree
could be
published
in
December.
If this
were to
be the
case,
John
Paul II
would
receive
the
title
"Venerable."
This
would be
an
important
step,
but not
decisive
for his
being
raised
to the
altar.
Next, a
miracle
would
have to
be
analyzed
and
attributed
to the
intercession
of Karol
Wojtyla
after
his
death,
by a
medical
commission,
a
commission
of
theologians
and a
commission
of
cardinals.
Only
after
the
positive
verdict
of these
three
commissions
would
Benedict
XVI be
able to
sign the
decree
recognizing
the
miracle,
which
would
open the
doors to
John
Paul
II's
beatification.
According
to press
reports,
which
could
only be
confirmed
later
on, the
postulator
of the
cause is
proposing
as a
miracle
the
healing
from
Parkinson's
disease
of a
French
nun.
(John
Paul II
also
suffered
from
Parkinson's.)
God's
work
How much
time can
each of
these
steps
take? No
one
knows
exactly.
Vatican
insiders
can make
calculations
comparing
other
cases,
but they
are only
guesses.
In fact,
the
process
is
following
the
ordinary
schedule,
as
Benedict
XVI only
exempted
it from
the
five-year
waiting
period
before
opening
the
cause,
as also
happened
in the
case of
Mother
Teresa
of
Calcutta.
Cardinal
Dziwisz
stressed
that
neither
he nor
his
brother
bishops
are
exerting
pressure.
"We
don't
want the
Pope to
be
hurried;
he must
study it
well
because
he is
also
linked
to the
figure
of John
Paul
II," the
cardinal
specified
in a
press
conference
in the
art
gallery
of the
apostolic
nunciature
in
Buenos
Aires.
Asked if
John
Paul II
performed
any
miracles
while he
was
alive
(which
are not
analyzed
in the
process
as a
condition
for
beatification),
the
Polish
cardinal
replied:
"We
couldn't
speak of
this, we
were
prohibited,
but now
that he
is dead,
there
are many
things
recorded
and
documented."
The
archbishop
of
Krakow
gave the
example
of a
bishop
who was
cured of
cancer,
which
some
attributed
to be a
miracle
of John
Paul II.
John
Paul II,
however,
said,
"It's
not the
work of
man,
it's the
work of
God."
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DAILY LITURGICAL SAINT |
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http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintofDay
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GENERAL
MARIOLOGY |
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Nativity of the Virgin Mary
The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew
Translation by Saint Jerome
CHAP. 9.--And
on the second day, while Mary was at the
fountain to fill
her pitcher, the angel of the Lord appeared to
her, saying: Blessed art
thou, Mary; for in thy womb thou hast prepared
an habitation for the Lord.
For, lo, the light from heaven shall come and
dwell in thee, and by means
of thee will shine over the whole world.
Again, on
the third day, while she was working at the
purple with her
fingers, there entered a young man of ineffable
beauty. And when Mary saw
him, she exceedingly feared and trembled. And he
said to her: Hail, Mary,
full of grace; the Lord is with thee: blessed
art thou among women, and
blessed is the fruit of thy womb. [1] And when
she heard these words, she
trembled, and was exceedingly afraid. Then the
angel of the Lord added:
Fear not, Mary; for thou hast found favour with
God: Behold, thou shalt
conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a
King, who fills not only the
earth, but the heaven, and who reigns from
generation to generation.
CHAP.
10.--While these things were doing, Joseph was
occupied with his
work, house-building, in the districts by the
sea-shore; for he was a
carpenter. And after nine months he came back to
his house, and found Mary
pregnant. Wherefore, being in the utmost
distress, he trembled and cried
out, saying: O Lord God, receive my spirit; for
it is better for me to die
than to live any longer. And the virgins who
were with Mary said to him:
Joseph, what art thou saying? We know that no
man has touched her; we can
testify that she is still a virgin, and
untouched. We have watched over
her; always has she continued with us in prayer;
daily do the angels of God
speak with her; daily does she receive food from
the hand of the Lord. We
know not how it is possible that there can be
any sin in her. But if thou
wishest us to tell thee what we suspect, nobody
but the angel of the Lord
[2] has made her pregnant. Then said Joseph: Why
do you mislead me, to
believe that an angel of the Lord has made her
pregnant? But it is possible
that some one has pretended to be an angel of
the Lord, and has beguiled
her. And thus speaking, he wept, and said: With
what face shall I look at
the temple of the Lord, or with what face shall
I see the priests of God?
What am I to do? And thus saying, he thought
that he would flee, and send
her away.
CHAP. 11.--
And when he was thinking of rising up and hiding
himself,
and dwelling in secret, behold, on that very
night, the angel of the Lord
appeared to him in sleep, saying: Joseph, thou
son of David, fear not;
receive Mary as thy wife: for that which is in
her womb is of the Holy
Spirit. And she shall bring forth a son, and His
name shall be called
Jesus, for He will save His people from their
sins. And Joseph, rising from
his sleep, gave thanks to God, and spoke to Mary
and the virgins who were
with her, and told them his vision. And he was
comforted about Mary,
saying: I have sinned, in that I suspected thee
at all.
CHAP.
12.--After these things there arose a great
report that Mary was
with child. And Joseph was seized by the
officers of the temple, and
brought along with Mary to the high priest. And
he with the priests began
to reproach him, and to say: Why hast thou
beguiled so great and so
glorious a virgin, who was fed like a dove in
the temple by the angels of
God, who never wished either to see or to have a
man, who had the most
excellent knowledge of the law of God? If thou
hadst not done violence to
her, she would still have remained in her
virginity. And Joseph vowed, and
swore that he had never touched her at all. And
Abiathar the high priest
answered him: As the Lord liveth, I will give
thee to drink of the water of
drinking of the Lord, and immediately thy sin
will appear.
Then was
assembled a multitude of people which could not
be numbered,
and Mary was brought to the temple. And the
priests, and her relatives, and
her parents wept, and said to Mary: Confess to
the priests thy sin, thou
that wast like a dove in the temple of God, and
didst receive food from the
hands of an angel. And again Joseph was summoned
to the altar, and the
water of drinking of the Lord was given him to
drink. And when any one that
had lied drank this water, and walked seven
times round the altar, God used
to show some sign in his face. When, therefore,
Joseph had drunk in safety,
and had walked round the altar seven times, no
sign of sin appeared in him.
Then all the priests, and the officers, and the
people justified him,
saying: Blessed art thou, seeing that no charge
has been found good against
thee. And they summoned Mary, and said: And what
excuse canst thou have? or
what greater sign can appear in thee than the
conception of thy womb, which
betrays thee? This only we require of thee, that
since Joseph is pure
regarding thee, thou confess who it is that has
beguiled thee. For it is
better that thy confession should betray thee,
than that the wrath of God
should set a mark on thy face, and expose thee
in the midst of the people.
Then Mary said, stedfastly and without
trembling: O Lord God, King over
all, who knowest all secrets, if there be any
pollution in me, or any sin,
or any evil desires, or unchastity, expose me in
the sight of all the
people, and make me an example of punishment to
all. Thus saying, she went
up to the altar of the Lord boldly, and drank
the water of drinking, and
walked round the altar seven times, and no spot
was found in her.
And when
all the people were in the utmost astonishment,
seeing that
she was with child, and that no sign had
appeared in her face, they began
to be disturbed among themselves by conflicting
statements: some said that
she was holy and unspotted, others that she was
wicked and defiled. Then
Mary, seeing that she was still suspected by the
people, and that on that
account she did not seem to them to be wholly
cleared, said in the hearing
of all, with a loud voice, As the Lord Adonai
liveth, the Lord of Hosts
before whom I stand, I have not known man; but I
am known by Him to whom
from my earliest years I have devoted myself.
And this vow I made to my God
from my infancy, that I should remain unspotted
in Him who created me, and
I trust that I shall so live to Him alone, and
serve Him alone; and in Him,
as long as I shall live, will I remain
unpolluted. Then they all began to
kiss her feet and to embrace her knees, asking
her to pardon them for their
wicked suspicions. And she was led down to her
house with exultation and
joy by the people, and the priests, and all the
virgins. And they cried
out, and said: Blessed be the name of the Lord
for ever, because He hath
manifested thy holiness to all His people
Israel. |
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DIVINE MERCY
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Divine Mercy In my soul
The Mercy of the Lord I will sing Forever.
Divine Mercy in my soul.
Sr. Faustina, Diary
My Preparation for
Holy Communion
J.M.J.
Today, my soul is
preparing for the coming of my Savior, who is goodness and love itself.
Temptations and distractions torment me and do not let me prepare for the
coming of the Lord. Therefore, I desire even more ardently to receive You,
Lord, because I know that when You come, You will rescue me from these
torments. And if it is Your will that I should suffer, well then, fortify me
for the struggle.
Jesus, Savior, who have deigned to come into my heart, drive away these
distractions which are keeping me from talking to You. Jesus answered me,
I want you to become like a knight experienced in
battle, who can give orders to others amid the exploding shells. In the same
way, My child, you should know how to master yourself amid the greatest
difficulties, and let nothing drive you away from Me, not even your falls.
Today, I have been struggling all day long with
a certain difficulty about which You, Jesus, know…
Today, my heart trembles with joy. I desire very much that Jesus come to my
heart. My longing heart is inflamed with an ever-increasing love.
When Jesus came, I threw myself into His arms like a little child. I told
Him of my joy. Jesus listened to these outpourings of my love. When I asked
pardon of Jesus for not preparing myself for Holy Communion, but for
continually thinking of sharing in this joy as soon as possible, He answered
that Most pleasing to Me is this preparation with
which you have received Me into your heart. Today, in a special way I bless
this your joy. Nothing will disturb that joy throughout the day…
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CATHOLIC TEACHING/CONVICTION/TESTIMONY |
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Where is God When We Suffer?
All of us have been taught that God is the
all-powerful, all-knowing Being who can do anything He wants. We also
learn that God is an infinitely loving and compassionate God who does
not want to see us unhappy. As a result, we combine these notions of
love and power about God in order to perceive a God who works tirelessly
for our advantage. Unfortunately, what we mean by our advantage is
oftentimes on our own terms and not necessarily on God’s terms.
In my life, there have been numerous times when
undergoing personal difficulties, I have put to God the questions: If
you were so loving, why did you let this happen to me? If you want
what’s best for me, why didn’t you stop this from happening to me?
In these moments of questioning, I feel myself drifted
further and further away from my belief in a God that is always on my
side. I doubt even more that there can be any God who wouldn’t stop this
pain if He had the ability to. What use was God’s deep compassion and
care for me if He did not exercise the power He had to prevent suffering
in my life? These sentiments in me often led to feelings of
disappointment, hurt, anger and even bitterness. This was not the God I
expected to believe in.
As I pray and reflect on my image of God, however, I
have come to realize that I had many false expectations about God. I
often viewed things through my own eyes, but never through God’s eyes.
If God were to show that He loved me, He would have to conform to all my
ideas and perceptions of what happiness is—owning a certain thing,
having a certain relationship with someone, getting an A on a particular
test, and so on. Happiness is being able to do and have the things that
I want, and especially not having to go through the pains of fear and
rejections in life.
Greek philosophy asserts that we are naturally
attracted to what is good. Therefore, the things that we want are
usually good for us. The problem that most of us face, however, is the
limitations in our ability to see the greater picture so that we often
mistake what is temporarily good for what is absolutely good. We make
the temporary good become the thing to live by and to die by. Temporary
goods include such things as money, health, relationships, a job, etc.,
and we evaluate our happiness based on these things.
Our dependence on the temporary goods blinds us from
seeing what is most important—our relationship with God and the love
that God has for us. Our dependence on the temporary goods creates false
expectations about God and unreasonable parameters about how God is to
show His love for us. As I reflect on the Scriptures, I see clearly the
many unreasonable expectations that I had of God. In Is 43: 1-2, God
says: Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name: you
are mine. When you pass through the water, I will be with you; in the
rivers you shall not drown. When you walk through fire, you shall not be
burned; the flames shall not consume you.
These verses clearly tell us that God never promised a
pain-free life: that we would not have to face broken relationships, to
be rejected by those from whom we seek acceptance, to fail in attempts
that we spend much time and energy to accomplish, or undergo events that
we call “bad luck.” Our expectation of God, on the other hand, is often
of someone who would give us a life of smooth sailing. And if a storm
were about to come, somehow we would miraculously be unaffected by it.
Because of these unrealistic expectations, God continually disappoints
and frustrates us. What we fail to realize and truly appreciate is God’s
promise that He would be with us by our side through the most terrible
times so that when we hold on to God, we would not face utter
destruction. Our faith in God’s deep compassion will reassure us that in
the end, we will survive. Psalm 23 says, “Even though I walk in the dark
valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side with your rod and your
staff that give me courage.” Having passed through the dark journey, God
will then lead us to the “verdant pastures” where we will repose by the
fresh streams of cool water.
Having to undergo pain and suffering is a part of life
that none of us can escape. God Himself is not an unrealistic God. God
knows that obstacles are rampant in our lives and does not attempt to
mislead us about who He is by making false promises. But we can be
reassured that God is not just sitting from afar watching us with
disinterest. Rather, He is intimately connected to our lives and our
actions. He is at work in us and with us to give us strength and courage
to conquer the difficulties that come our way.
As I
reflect back on my life, I have undergone many difficulties—accidents
and illnesses, personal fears and struggles, issues of self-esteem,
relationship problems, and so on—I realize that indeed, God was always
with me giving me healing and comfort. Through the pains and suffering,
I have learned to grow, to see the world through different eyes, and to
see my relationship with God in a different way. God has shown me His
love, not by protecting me from having to struggle, but rather by being
with me during my struggles leading me with His strong arms and His
compassionate heart.
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