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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
cho Mẹ được nhận biết và yêu mến" |
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August 24, 2009 - Monday of
Twenty First Week of Ordinary Time
LITURGICAL/THEME MEDITATION:
"Come and see"
UNIVERSAL CHURCH/WORLD EVENT(S):
On the Scandal of the
Christian Faith
SAINT OF THE DAY
St. Bartholomew
GENERAL
MARIOLOGY
THE DIVINE
HISTORY AND LIFE
OF THE
VIRGIN MOTHER OF GOD
Book Five -
Chapter II
JESUS
INSTRUCTS HIS MOTHER IN THE LAW OF GRACE
DIVINE MERCY
Divine Mercy in My Soul
NOTEBOOK V
TEACHING/TESTIMONY/CONVICTION:
From Abortion to Conversion: Testimony of a
Former Abortion Provider
KATHY SPARKS
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DAILY LITURGICAL MEDITATION |
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Monday (8/24): "Come and see"
Scripture: John 1:45-51 (alternate passage and
meditation on
Matthew 23:13-22)
45 Philip found Nathan'a-el, and said to him, "We have found him of
whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth,
the son of Joseph." 46 Nathan'a-el said to him, "Can anything good come
out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." 47 Jesus saw
Nathan'a-el coming to him, and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite
indeed, in whom is no guile!" 48 Nathan'a-el said to him, "How do you
know me?" Jesus answered him, "Before Philip called you, when you were
under the fig tree, I saw you." 49 Nathan'a-el answered him, "Rabbi, you
are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" 50 Jesus answered him,
"Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe?
You shall see greater things than these." 51 And he said to him, "Truly,
truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God
ascending and descending upon the Son of man."
Meditation: How can we know with certainty that Jesus is
truly who he claims to be – the Son of God and Savior of the world?
Philip was eager to tell his friend Nathaniel (who is also known as
Bartholomew) about his decision to be a disciple of Jesus. Philip tried
to convince his friend that Jesus was the Messiah, whom Moses and the
prophets had foretold. Nathanial was very skeptical because he didn't
think it was possible for the Messiah to come from Nazareth, a town in
Galilee. Nathaniel not only disliked the town of Nazareth, he despised
its residents as unworthy of religious toleration. "How could anything
good come from such a place?" Nazareth was at the crossroads of the
ancient world where people from different cultures and religions would
pass through. Perhaps Nathaniel thought its religious teachers were not
orthodox in their understanding and interpretation of the law of Moses.
Besides, how could the Messiah come from Galilee when the prophets said
he would come from Bethlehem of Judaea? Aren't we all a bit like
Nathaniel? We are skeptical when someone tries to convince us of the
truth until we can comprehend it for ourselves.
So what kind of proof did Philip offer to Nathaniel? Rather than
argue with his friend, Philip took the wiser strategy of inviting
Nathaniel to "come and see" for himself who this Jesus claimed to be.
Clever arguments rarely win people to the gospel; but an encounter with
the person of Jesus Christ can change one's life forever. When people
are receptive to the word of Christ and when they see his love in
action, the Lord Jesus himself, through the power of the Holy Spirit,
touches their hearts and opens their minds to God's revelation.
When Philip brought Nathaniel to Jesus, Jesus did something which
only God could do! He opened Nathaniel's heart and his innermost
thoughts and desires to God's revelation. Jesus called Nathaniel a true
"Israelite in whom there is no guile." God had chosen Jacob, who was
given the name Israel, over his twin brother Essau, because Jacob was a
man of faith, without guile or cunning like Essau (Genesis 25:27).
Nathaniel, like Jacob, hungered for God and believed in God's promises.
Nathaniel knew the scriptures; he had read the law and the prophets. And
like Jacob he was waiting for the fulfillment of God's promises to his
people Israel. Nathaniel was an earnest seeker of God. He not only
sought to grow in understanding of God's word, but he sought an intimate
personal relationship with God as well. That is why he was willing to
meet Jesus, to see if perhaps this miracle worker from Galilee might be
the long-awaited Messiah and Savior.
God places in every heart a desire and intimate yearning to
personally know the One who created us in love for love. Saint Augustine
of Hippo, who found God only after many years of wandering in disbelief
and spiritual darkness, exclaimed in his autobiographical Confessions:
“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless
until they rest in You.”
What is the significance of Jesus' revelation of seeing Nathanial
under the fig tree? The fig tree was a symbol of God's blessing and
peace. It provided shade from the midday sun and a cool place to retreat
and rest. It is possible that Philip spoke with Nathaniel about the
Messiah under the shade of the fig tree. Or maybe this was Nathanial's
favorite place for daily prayer and meditation on God's word. Perhaps he
dozed off for a midday nap and dreamed of God's kindgom like Jacob did
while he slept under the stars and saw a vision of a great ladder or
stairway which united earth with heaven (Genesis 28:12). Nathaniel
accepted Jesus as Messiah and Lord because Jesus spoke to the need of
his innermost being – his desire to know God personally and to be united
with him in his glory. Jesus' response to Nathanial's new faith is the
promise that he himself will be the "ladder which unites earth with
heaven" (see Genesis 28:12-17). God had opened a door for Jacob that
brought him and his people into a new relationship with the living God.
In Jacob's dream God revealed his angelic host and showed him the throne
of heaven and promised Jacob that he and descendants would dwell with
the living God.
Jesus proclaims to Nathanial that he himself is the fulfillment of
this promise to the Patriarch Jacob. Jesus is the true ladder or
stairway to heaven. In Jesus' incarnation, the divine Son of God taking
on human flesh for our sake, we see the union of heaven and earth – God
making his dwelling with us and bringing us into the heavenly reality of
his kingdom. Jesus' death on the Cross and his Resurrection opens the
way for each of us to come into a new relationship with God as his sons
and daughters. The Lord Jesus opens the way for each of us to "ascend to
heaven" and to bring "heaven to earth" in the daily circumstances of our
lives. God's kingdom is present in those who seek him and who do his
will. Do you pray as Jesus taught, May your kingdom come and your
will be done in earth as it is in heaven?
"Heavenly Father, through your Son Jesus Christ, you have opened the
way to heaven for us. As you revealed yourself to your beloved
Patriarchs and Apostles, so reveal yourself to me that I may glorify you
in my daily life. May I always find joy in your presence and never lose
sight of the kingdom of heaven."
Psalm 145:10-13,17-18
10 All thy works shall give thanks to thee, O LORD, and all thy
saints shall bless thee!
11 They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and tell of thy power,
12 to make known to the sons of men thy mighty deeds, and the glorious
splendor of thy kingdom.
13 Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endures
throughout all generations. The LORD is faithful in all his words, and
gracious in all his deeds.
17 The LORD is just in all his ways, and kind in all his doings.
18 The LORD is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him
in truth.
www.dailyscripture.net
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UNIVERSAL CHURCH/WORLD EVENTS |
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On the Scandal of the Christian Faith
"Jesus’ Teaching Seems Hard"
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, AUG. 23, 2009 ( Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI gave to crowds gathered at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo for the praying of the midday Angelus.
* * *
Dear brothers and sisters!
These past few Sundays, the liturgy has proposed for our reflection Chapter 6 of John's Gospel in which Jesus presents himself as the "bread of life come down from heaven," adding: "If anyone eats of this bread he will live forever and the bread that I give is my flesh for the life of the world" (John 6:51).
To the Jews who heatedly dispute among themselves, asking: "How can he give us his flesh to eat?" (6:52), Jesus stresses: "If you do not eat of the flesh of the Son of man or drink of his blood, you shall not have life within you" (6:53). Today, the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, we meditate on the concluding part of this chapter, in which the Fourth Evangelist relates the reaction of the people and of the disciples themselves, scandalized by the words of the Lord, to the point that many, after having followed him up till that time, exclaim: "This is a hard saying! Who can listen to it?" (6:60). And from that moment "many of his disciples left and no longer traveled with him" (6:66). Jesus, however, does not soften his statements, indeed, he turns to the Twelve directly and asks: "Do you also wish to leave?" (6:67).
This provocative question is not addressed only to the people of that time, but to the believers and men of every age. Today too, not a few are scandalized by the paradox of the Christian faith. Jesus' teaching seems "hard," too difficult to put into practice. There are thus those who reject it and abandon Christ; there are those who try to "adapt" the word to the fashions of the times, distorting its meaning and value.
"Do you also wish to leave?" This disturbing provocation resounds in our hearts and awaits a personal response from each person. Jesus in fact is not satisfied with a superficial and formal following, a first and enthusiastic adhesion is not sufficient for him; on the contrary, we must take part "in his thinking and in his willing" all of our lives. Following him fills the heart with joy and gives complete meaning to our existence, but it brings difficulties and renunciations because very often we must go against the current.
"Do you also wish to leave?" To Jesus' question Peter responds in the name of the Apostles: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life and we have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God" (6:68-69).
Dear brothers and sisters, we too can repeat Peter's answer, aware of course of our human fragility, but confident in the power of the Holy Spirit, who expresses himself and manifests himself in communion with Jesus. Faith is a gift of God to man and it is, at the same time, man's free and total entrusting of himself to God; faith is the docile listening to the word of the Lord, that is the "lamp" for our steps and the "light" on our way (cf. Psalm 119:105).
If we open our hearts to Christ with confidence, if we let ourselves be conquered by him, we too can experience, together with the Curé d'Ars, "that our only happiness on this earth is to love God and to know that he loves us." Let us ask the Virgin Mary always to keep alive in us this faith impregnated by love, which made her, the humble girl of Nazareth, Mother of God and model for all believers.
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DAILY LITURGICAL SAINT |
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http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintofDay
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GENERAL
MARIOLOGY |
THE DIVINE HISTORY AND
LIFE
OF THE
VIRGIN MOTHER OF GOD
BOOK FIVE
Concerning
the Perfection with which the most Holy Mary copied and
Imitated
the Activity of the Soul of Christ; how the Incarnate Word
Instructed
Her in the Laws of grace, the Articles of Faith, the
Sacraments, the Ten Commandments; and with what
Alacrity
and Noble Promptitude She Corresponded.
Also
concerning the Death of Saint Joseph, the
Preaching
of Saint John, the call of the
First
Disciples and the Baptism
Of the
Virgin Mary, our
Blessed
Lady
CHAPTER II.
JESUS INSTRUCTS HIS MOTHER IN THE LAW OF GRACE
I have already said in former chapters, that
our Lady was the first and specially privileged Disciple of her most
holy Son, chosen among all creatures as the model of the new evangelical
law and its Author, according to which He was to mould all the saints of
the new evangelical law and judge of all the results of the Redemption.
In regard to Her the incarnate Word proceeded like a most skillful
artist, who understands the art of painting and that pertains to it most
thoroughly; who, throwing all powers into one chosen work, seeks to gain
from it alone renown and fame as from the full exposition of his art. It
is certain that all the holiness and glory of the saints was the result
of the love and merits of Christ: (Eph. 2, 3) but in comparison with the
excellence of Mary they seem insignificant and as it were only rough
sketches; for in all the saints are found defects (I John 1, 8). But
this living image of the Onlybegotten was free from all imperfections;
and the first strokes of his pencil in Her were of greater beauty than
the last touches in the highest angels and saints. She is the model for
all the perfection of holiness and virtues of all his elect, and the
utmost limit to which the love of Christ can proceed in mere creatures.
No one received any grace or glory that most holy Mary could not
receive, and She received all that others were incapable of receiving;
and her most blessed Son gave to Her all that She could receive and that
He could communicate.
The multitude and variety of the saints silently
enhance the Artificer of their great sanctity, and the greatness of the
highest is made more conspicuous by the beauty of the lowest: but all of
them together are a glorification of most holy Mary. For by her
incomparable holiness they are all surpassed and they all partake of so
much the greater felicity as they imitate Her, whose holiness redounds
over all. If the most pure Mary has reached the highest pinnacle in the
ranks of the just, She may also on this very account be considered as
the instrument or the motive power through which the saints themselves
have reached their station. As we must judge of her excellence (even if
only from afar), by the labor which Christ the Lord applied for her
formation, let us consider what labor He spent upon Her and how much
upon the whole Church. To establish and to enrich his Church He deemed
it sufficient to spend only three years in preaching, selecting the
Apostles, teaching the people, and inculcating the evangelical law by
his public life; and this was amply sufficient to accomplish the work
enjoined upon Him by the eternal Father and to justify and sanctify all
the true believers. But in order to stamp upon his most holy Mother the
image of his holiness, He consumed not three years, but ten times three
years, engaging in this work with all the power of his divine love,
without ever ceasing hour after hour to add grace to grace, gifts to
gifts, blessings to blessings, and holiness to holiness. And at the end
of all this He still left Her in a state, in which He could continue to
add excellence after his Ascension to his eternal Father as I will
describe in the third part. Our reason is unbalanced, our words fail at
the greatness of this incomparable Lady; for She is elect as the sun
(Cant. 6, 9); and her effulgence cannot be borne by terrestrial eyes,
nor comprehended by any earthly creatures.
Christ our Redeemer began to manifest his designs in
regard to his heavenly Mother after they had come back from Egypt to
Nazareth, as I have already mentioned; from that time on He continued to
follow up his purpose in his quality as Teacher and as the divine
Enlightener in all the mysteries of the Incarnation and Redemption.
After they returned from Jerusalem in his twelfth year, the great Queen
had a vision of the Divinity, not an intuitive vision, but one
consisting of intellectual images; one very exalted and full of the new
influences of the Divinity and of the secrets of the Most High. She was
especially enlightened in regard to the decrees of the divine Will
concerning the law of grace, which was now established by the incarnate
Word, and concerning the power, which was given to Him in the consistory
of the most blessed Trinity. At the same time She saw for this purpose
the eternal Father consigned to His Son the seven-sealed book, of which
saint John speaks (Apoc. 5, 1), and how none could be found either in
heaven or on earth, who could unseal and open it, until the Lamb broke
its seals by his Passion and Death and by his doctrines and merits. For
in this figure God wished to intimate, that the secret of this book was
nothing else than the new law of the Gospel and the Church founded upon
it in this world.
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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
NOTEBOOK V
January 7, 1938. First
Friday of the month. This morning during Mass, for a brief while, I saw the
suffering Savior. What struck me was that Jesus was so peaceful amidst His
great sufferings. I understood that this was a lesson for me on what my
outward behavior should be in the midst of my various sufferings.
For quite a long while, I felt pain in my hands, feet and side. Then I saw a
certain sinner who, profiting from my sufferings, drew near the Lord. All
this for starving souls that they may not die of starvation.
I went to confession to the chaplain [Father Theodore] today. Jesus
comforted me through this priest. O my Mother, Church of God, you are a true
Mother who understands her children…
Oh, how good it is that Jesus will judge us according to our conscience and
not according to people’s talk and judgments. O inconceivable goodness, I
see You full of goodness in the very act of judgment.
Although I am feeling weak, and my nature is clamoring for rest, I feel the
inspiration of grace telling me to take hold of myself and write, write for
the comfort of souls, whom I love so much and with whom I will share all
eternity. And I desire eternal life for them so ardently that that is why I
use all my free moments, no matter how short, for writing in the way that
Jesus wishes of me.
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CATHOLIC TEACHING/CONVICTION/TESTIMONY |
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From Abortion to Conversion: Testimony of a Former
Abortion Provider
KATHY SPARKS
(continued)
Then we had a burden for the abortion
issue. God did a really neat thing because we thought at that time,
that's it, we're supposed to pray about abortion. So we're praying about
abortion and really believing that God's going to do something. The Lord
gave my husband a dream and He showed Mike (this was five years ago),
three years before it was to happen, that we would be involved in a
Crisis Pregnancy Center. Mike wrote the whole dream out. We just started
praying to that means, and then I met a man who operates in the
prophetic gift. He said, "You have a desire to evangelize and to share
your personal experiences with women." This man was from a different
state altogether and didn't even know me. And that very thing I had been
praying about, he said, "I want you to know that God is opening the
doors right now." I was at the right place at the right time. I shared
briefly at a Bible Study in DePere, Missouri that I used to be involved
in an abortion clinic, and a girl's sister was the president of Nurses
for Life, Illinois Federation of Right-to-Life in Illinois and she asked
me if I'd share my testimony.
At that point, I started sharing my
testimony, and it was incredible. The Lord just opened the doors and I
went through them. I talked to right-to-life groups, high schools, radio
interviews, I was on television several times, people were calling me
and asking me to share. In the meantime, I still have this burden for
the woman, and I felt I had so much to offer the girl who wanted to
choose abortion. I felt if only I could share with her.
I was looking into one particular
organization, but the only thing about this organization in St. Louis
was that they would not allow you to share the Gospel. They felt that
part had to be kept out. At that point I said, forget it, because then
it would just be a good work, and I don't to do a good work because
that's the answer. Jesus Christ is the answer. So then I was on this
radio broadcast on a half-hour talk show with a woman who happened to be
the president of the board of directors of the Crisis Pregnancy Center
in Clayton, Missouri.
To make a long story short, I took the
training. I knew it was obvious that God had a calling on my life to be
a counselor. He taught me much in two and one-half years at the CPC in
St. Louis. We had a burden for the Metro-East area because here we are,
having all these women coming in who needed help over to St. Louis that
lived in the Metro-East area because of all the speaking I was doing in
the Metro-East area.
So we formed a steering committee and for
two years we worked very hard in bringing about the Metro-East Crisis
Pregnancy Center. One thing I didn't want to do was be the director
because I knew what it cost the director over in St. Louis. Everybody
thought that I was the logical candidate because I had so much
experience and had worked over in St. Louis. But I said, Mike, I'm going
to tell you right now, forget it, I'm not going to be the director.
Well, guess what? The Scripture in
Isaiah, it says, Our ways are not God's ways, and our thoughts are
not God's thoughts. He had other
plans for me because a sister in the Lord challenged me, Kathy, you
better pray about it. Have you prayed about it? No. As I prayed about
it, God opened the door and He showed me that I was to do this at this
time, and so I am presently the director of the Crisis Pregnancy Center
in Granite City. We're very excited to report, after seeing since last
May 250 clients, only six have aborted. So, praise God! He's doing a
mighty work. We've had several girls come to know the Lord personally.
We care about the girls as well as their babies. We feel if you reach
the girl, you reach the baby. We're concerned about her soul as well as
her life in general. So we have much to share with these girls. We're
very evangelistic. We believe unless God tells you not to, you should
share the Gospel, present the Gospel in a timely way with every client
that comes in. We feel that the Lord says in the Word: Make the most out
of every opportunity.
I encourage the girls who work with us;
we have 23 volunteers; I'm the only paid person on staff. I really
encourage them with this because whatever we do in the Pro-Life
activity, whatever it is--you might be a sidewalk counselor; a
physician--whatever you are, it does begin with prayer, even as Joe
said, "We need to be in prayer. Because everything else is going to come
out of that." Those He calls, He equips, but we need to be prepared in
our hearts, in prayer before God. This is so encouraging because people
say, 'Kathy, I don't have any training, etc.' All it takes is a willing
heart before God, and obedience.
I want to leave you, encouraging you with
the Scripture from Acts 4:13: Now when they saw the boldness of Peter
and John and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they
marveled, and they realized that they had been with Jesus.
That's what it's all about. If we're with
Jesus, it doesn't matter if we're untrained, God will use us. He's
looking for vessels, cleansed and purified, and ready to do His work.
Thank you for having me.
(to be continued)
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