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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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November 17/2009 - Tuesday
33rd Week
of
Ordinary Time
LITURGICAL/THEME MEDITATION:
"Zacchaeus made haste and received
Jesus joyfully"
UNIVERSAL CHURCH/WORLD EVENT(S):
U.S. Bishops Renew Resolve
on Health Care Reform
SAINT OF THE DAY
St. Elizabeth of Hungary
GENERAL
MARIOLOGY
Nativity of the
Virgin Mary
DIVINE MERCY
Divine Mercy in My Soul
My
Preparation for Holy Communion
TEACHING/TESTIMONY/CONVICTION:
BEING GOOD
FRIENDS: HOW TO GET ONE
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DAILY LITURGICAL MEDITATION |
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Tuesday (11/17): "Zacchaeus made haste and
received Jesus joyfully"
Scripture: Luke 19:1-10
1 He entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And there was a man
named Zacchae'us; he was a chief tax collector, and rich. 3 And he
sought to see who Jesus was, but could not, on account of the crowd,
because he was small of stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up
into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way. 5 And when
Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchae'us, make
haste and come down; for I must stay at your house today." 6 So he made
haste and came down, and received him joyfully. 7 And when they saw it
they all murmured, "He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a
sinner." 8 And Zacchae'us stood and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, the
half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded any one of
anything, I restore it fourfold." 9 And Jesus said to him, "Today
salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 10
For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost."
Meditation: What would you do if Jesus knocked on your door
and said, "I must stay at your home today"? Would you be excited or
embarrassed? Jesus often "dropped-in" at unexpected times and he often
visited the "uninvited" – the poor, the lame, and even public sinners
like Zacchaeus, the tax collector! Tax collectors were despised and
treated as outcasts, no doubt because they over-charged people and
accumulated great wealth at the expense of others. Zacchaeus was a chief
tax collector and was much hated by all the people. Why would Jesus
single him out for the honor of staying at his home? Zacchaeus needed
God's merciful love and forgiveness. In his encounter with Jesus he
found more than he imagined possible. He shows the depth of his
repentance by deciding to give half of his goods to the poor and to use
the other half for making restitution for fraud. Zacchaeus' testimony
included more than words. His change of heart resulted in a change of
life, a change that the whole community could experience as genuine.
Saint Augustine of Hippo urges us to climb the sycamore tree like
Zacchaeus that we might see Jesus and embrace his cross for our lives:
Zacchaeus climbed away from the crowd and saw
Jesus without the crowd getting in his way. The crowd laughs at the
lowly, to people walking the way of humility, who leave the wrongs
they suffer in God’s hands and do not insist on getting back at
their enemies. The crowd laughs at the lowly and says, “You
helpless, miserable clod, you cannot even stick up for yourself and
get back what is your own.” The crowd gets in the way and prevents
Jesus from being seen. The crowd boasts and crows when it is able to
get back what it owns. It blocks the sight of the one who said as he
hung on the cross, “Father, forgive them, because they do not know
what they are doing. … He ignored the crowd that was getting in his
way. He instead climbed a sycamore tree, a tree of “silly fruit.” As
the apostle says, “We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block
indeed to the Jews, [now notice the sycamore] but folly to the
Gentiles.” Finally, the wise people of this world laugh at us about
the cross of Christ and say, “What sort of minds do you people have,
who worship a crucified God?” What sort of minds do we have? They
are certainly not your kind of mind. “The wisdom of this world is
folly with God.” No, we do not have your kind of mind. You call our
minds foolish. Say what you like, but for our part, let us climb the
sycamore tree and see Jesus. The reason you cannot see Jesus is that
you are ashamed to climb the sycamore tree.
Let Zacchaeus grasp the sycamore tree, and let
the humble person climb the cross. That is little enough, merely to
climb it. We must not be ashamed of the cross of Christ, but we must
fix it on our foreheads, where the seat of shame is. Above where all
our blushes show is the place we must firmly fix that for which we
should never blush. As for you, I rather think you make fun of the
sycamore, and yet that is what has enabled me to see Jesus. You make
fun of the sycamore, because you are just a person, but “the
foolishness of God is wiser than men.
Sermon 174.3.
The Lord Jesus is always ready to make his home with each one of us. Do
you make room for him in your heart and in every area of your life?
"Lord Jesus, come and stay with me. Fill my life with your peace, my
home with your presence, and my heart with your praise. Help me to show
kindness, mercy, and goodness to all, even to those who cause me
ill-will or harm."
Psalm 15
1 O LORD, who shall sojourn in thy tent? Who shall dwell on thy holy
hill?
2 He who walks blamelessly, and does what is right, and speaks truth
from his heart;
3 who does not slander with his tongue, and does no evil to his friend,
nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor;
4 in whose eyes a reprobate is despised, but who honors those who fear
the LORD; who swears to his own hurt and does not change;
5 who does not put out his money at interest, and does not take a bribe
against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.
www.dailyscripture.net
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UNIVERSAL CHURCH/WORLD EVENTS |
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U.S. Bishops
Renew Resolve on Health Care Reform
Laud House Decision, Prepare
to Work With Senate
BALTIMORE, Maryland, NOV. 16,
2009 ( Zenit.org).-
As the U.S. bishops closed the
first session of their fall
general assembly today, the
president introduced an item not
on the agenda, but "critical:"
the country's health care
reform.
Cardinal Francis George of
Chicago, president of the U.S.
bishops' conference, underlined
the health care debate as "one
of the most critical issues" of
the country and the conference.
He read a statement and asked
for the approval of the
conference in order to release
it on behalf of all.
The statement, dated Nov. 17,
thanked those congress members
who voted against including the
federal funding of abortion in
the health care reform plan of
the House of Representatives.
Cardinal George clarified that
the conference is not approving
specific means to be employed in
the proposed health care policy,
but rather is emphasizing
principles such as universal
access and the right to life of
every human person.
He underlined the conference's
commitment to work now to
persuade the senate to follow
similar principles, to also
exclude abortion funding from
their reform proposal.
Health care is "about human
beings," the prelate said, and
hence it has "serious moral
consequences."
Principles, not politics
In a press conference after the
session, Bishop William Murphy
of Rockville Centre, New York,
chairman of the bishops'
Domestic Justice Committee,
affirmed the conference's desire
to emphasize "principles, not
politics."
The prelate, who has been
overseeing the conference's
health care efforts, said of the
House of Representative's
decision, "We have a sense of a
job well done by staff who have
made a principled stand."
The bishops do not do politics,
he said, but "we're in a world
of politics," so we had to deal
with those who have the
responsibility to make the laws.
The bishop underlined the
conference's desire to look for
a "principled position" that
will continue a law to prevent
the use of taxpayer money for
abortion.
"Killing a child in the womb is
not health care," he stated.
There were members of congress
who agreed with the Church on
these ideals, he noted, and "we
were able to work with them."
Bishop Murphy underlined the
conference's continued
commitment to this effort: "We
are pleased to have come this
far, but we know that we have a
road ahead of us."
It is a "different situation in
the senate," he noted,
underlining the need to see who
is "committed to the same ideals
that we are."
The prelate stated that U.S.
President Barack Obama "made it
clear" that he was committed to
remain "abortion neutral."
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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. 3. -- At
the same time there appeared a young man on the
mountains to Joachim while he was feeding his
flocks, and said to him: Why
dost thou not return to thy wife? And Joachim
said: I have had her for
twenty years, and it has not been the will of
God to give me children by
her. I have been driven with shame and reproach
from the temple of the
Lord: why should I go back to her, when I have
been once cast off and
utterly despised? Here then will I remain with
my sheep; and so long as in
this life God is willing to grant me light, I
shall willingly, by the hands
of my servants, bestow their portions upon the
poor, and the orphans, and
those that fear God. And when he had thus
spoken, the young man said to
him: I am an angel of the Lord, and I have
to-day appeared to thy wife when
she was weeping and praying, and have consoled
her; and know that she has
conceived a daughter from thy seed, and thou in
thy ignorance of this hast
left her. She will be in the temple of God, and
the Holy Spirit shall abide
in her; and her blessedness shall be greater
than that of all the holy
women, so that no one can say that any before
her has been like her, or
that any after her in this world will be so.
Therefore go down from the
mountains, and return to thy wife, whom thou
wilt find with child. For God
hath raised up seed in her, and for this thou
wilt give God thanks; and her
seed shall be blessed, and she herself shall be
blessed, and shall be made
the mother of eternal blessing. Then Joachim
adored the angel, and said to
him: If I have found favour in thy sight, sit
for a little in my tent, and
bless thy servant. (1) And the angel said to
him: Do not say servant, but
fellow-servant; for we are the servants of one
Master. (2) But my food is
invisible, and my drink cannot be seen by a
mortal. Therefore thou oughtest
not to ask me to enter thy tent; but if thou
wast about to give me
anything, (3) offer it as a burnt-offering to
the Lord. Then Joachim took a
lamb without spot, and said to the angel: I
should not have dared to offer
a burnt-offering to the Lord, unless thy command
had given me the priest's
right of offering. (4) And the angel said to
him: I should not have invited
thee to offer unless I had known the will of the
Lord. And when Joachim was
offering the sacrifice to God, the angel and the
odour of the sacrifice
went together straight up to heaven with the
smoke. (5)
Then
Joachim, throwing himself on his face, lay in
prayer from the
sixth hour of the day even until evening. And
his lads and hired servants
who were with him saw him, and not knowing why
he was lying down, thought
that he was dead; and they came to him, and with
difficulty raised him from
the ground. And when he recounted to them the
vision of the angel, they
were struck with great fear and wonder, and
advised him to accomplish the
vision of the angel without delay, and to go
back with all haste to his
wife. And when Joachim was turning over in his
mind whether he should go
back or not, it happened that he was overpowered
by a deep sleep; and,
behold, the angel who had already appeared to
him when awake, appeared to
him in his sleep, saying: I am the angel
appointed by God as thy guardian:
go down with confidence, and return to Anna,
because the deeds of mercy
which thou and thy wife Anna have done have been
told in the presence of
the Most High; and to you will God give such
fruit as no prophet or saint
has ever had from the beginning, or ever will
have. And when Joachim awoke
out of his sleep, he called all his herdsmen to
him, and told them his
dream. And they worshipped the Lord, and said to
him: See that thou no
further despise the words of the angel. But rise
and let us go hence, and
return at a quiet pace, feeding our flocks.
And when,
after thirty days occupied in going back, they
were now near
at hand, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared
to Anna, who was standing
and praying, and said: (6) Go to the gate which
is called Golden, (7) and
meet thy husband in the way, for to-day he will
come to thee. She therefore
went towards him in haste With her maidens, and,
praying to the Lord, she
stood a long time in the gate waiting for him.
And when she was wearied
with long waiting, she lifted up her eyes and
saw Joachim afar off coming
with his flocks; and she ran to him and hung on
his neck, giving thanks to
God, and saying: I was a widow, and behold now I
am not so: I was barren,
and behold I have now conceived. And so they
worshipped the Lord, and went
into their own house. And when this was heard
of, there was great joy among
all their neighbours and acquaintances, so that
the whole land of lsrael
congratulated them. |
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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 preparation
for the coming of Jesus is brief, but imprinted deeply with vehement love.
The presence of God penetrates me and sets aflame my love for Him. There are
no words; there is only interior understanding. I drown completely in God,
through love. The Lord approaches the dwelling of my heart. After receiving
Communion, I have just enough presence of mind to return to my kneeler. At
the same time, my soul is completely lost in God, and I no longer know what
is going on about me. God gives me an interior knowledge of His Divine
Being. These moments are short, but penetrating. The soul leaves the chapel
in profound recollection, and it is not easy to distract it. At such time, I
touch the ground with only one foot, as it were. No sacrifice throughout
such a day is either difficult or burdensome. Every situation evokes a new
act of love.
Today, I invite Jesus to my heart, as Love. You are Love itself. All heaven
catches the flame from You and is filled with love. And so my soul covets
You as a flower yearns for the sun. Jesus, hasten to my heart, for You see
that, as the flower is eager for the sun, so my heart is for You. I open the
calyx of my heart to receive Your Love.
When Jesus came to my heart, everything in my soul trembled with life and
with warmth. Jesus, take the love from my heart and pour it into Your love,
Your love which is burning and radiant, which knows how to bear each
sacrifice, which knows how to forget itself completely.
Today, my day is marked by sacrifice.
Today, I prepare for the coming of the King.
What am I, and who are You, O Lord, King of eternal glory? O my heart, are
you aware of who is coming to you today? Yes, I know, but – strangely – I am
not able to grasp it. Oh, if He were just a King, but He is the King of
Kings, the Lord of lords. Before Him, all power and dominion tremble. He is
coming to my heart today. But I hear Him approaching. I go out to meet Him
and invite Him. When He entered the dwelling of my heart, it was filled with
such reverence that it fainted with fear, falling at His feet. Jesus gives
her His hand and graciously permits her to take her place beside Him. He
reassures her, saying, See, I have left My
heavenly throne to become united with you. What you see is just a tiny part
and already your soul swoons with love. How amazed will your heart be when
you see Me in all My glory.
But I want to tell you that eternal life must begin already here on earth
through Holy Communion. Each Holy Communion makes you more capable of
communing with God throughout eternity.
And so, my King, I do not ask You for anything,
although I know that You can give me everything. I ask You for one thing
only: remain forever the King of my heart, that is enough for me.
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CATHOLIC TEACHING/CONVICTION/TESTIMONY |
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BEING GOOD FRIENDS: HOW TO GET ONE
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by Duy Ðức
nyone can have friends. Even people whom we dislike
intensely for various reasons have their own friends.
But in my experience, there are friends, then there are
friends. One of the most common things I have
heard from people is that they have a lot of friends,
but it is difficult for them to have close friends. In
many ways, making good friends is a skill, and like all
skills, it must be learned, practiced, and refined.
First, however, let us discuss what it means to have
a friendship. Friendship is an in-depth relationship
between two individuals in which there are trust,
support, communication, loyalty, understanding, empathy,
and intimacy. Indeed, a friend is someone we can feel
comfortable around no matter what state we are in. It's
just like when we go to somebody's house for the
weekend. While we are there, we have a lot of fun
experiencing something different. But the moment we get
back to our own house, our own room, a feeling of
relaxation comes upon us, and we say, "Home at last!" In
many ways, that's how it is with a friend. No matter
where we go, whom we talk to, what images we have to put
on at school or at work, a friend is someone we can come
"home" to and be able to say, "At last, I don't have to
worry about anything." We can take off our shoes, put
our feet on the coffee table, turn on our favorite music
CD with a friend.
There are many things a good friend can do for us.
First, they help us to grow in self-knowledge. In other
words, by relating to our friend, we discover new things
about ourselves. A friend may introduce us to things
that we liked without even knowing it. For example, we
may never discover our interest for poetry until a
friend drags us to a poetry reading or show us a poem he
liked. We find out the things that we both like -- a
certain sport, a particular style of music, some foods.
At the same time, we can also find out things that are
different between us. Our friend may like phôû* the best
while we like spring rolls the best. A friend may like
to take walks in the afternoon while we prefer to sit
around and watch television. Whether similarities or
differences, a good friend will always be able to help
us grow in self-knowledge.
A second way that a good friend can help us is by
expanding our outlook on life. For example, we may make
a friend who is of a different race and culture. She has
different ideas about clothes, food, and religion, etc..
In many ways, these things that are different from us
can help us to see that there is other ways of looking
at the world beside what we are used to. Thus, we can
break out of our own shells. For example, I would never
have gone skydiving if a friend of mine didn't convince
me that it was a thrilling experience and that I would
enjoy it tremendously. A friend may also introduce us to
technologies that we didn't know about, or even
spiritual groups that we didn't know about.
Third, a friend is a good source of encouragement. A
good friend will never want to see us fail and don't
feel the need to put us down in order to lift himself
up. He wants to encourage us so that we can overcome the
difficulties and the stress that we experience in our
daily life.
Fourth, a good friend is not only good at giving but
also good at receiving. In other words, a good friend
offers us company, love, support, but he will also be
able to receive these things from us. Therefore, it is a
reciprocal relationship of giving and receiving. Good
friends allow us to exercise our skills of listening to
them, encouraging them, supporting them, and loving
them. They help us to practice at being good friends
ourselves.
Finally, good friends help us to grow in our ability
to trust. In this competitive world, it is very
difficult to trust people because it seems that everyone
wants what we have. Nevertheless, a good friend helps us
to be able to trust in someone else. If we live without
trust, it would be a very unhappy life.
While good friends are important, like many things in
life, they don't come automatically. Making good friends
require hard and continuous work. Let us consider the
necessary steps in making a good friend:
1. People Equal Friends.
There is a certain chemistry with friends just as in
a love relationship. Therefore, contact with other
people is the first building block to grow a friend.
Friends can't grow in a vacuum. Best friends take time.
2. Talking Is Essential Among Friends.
Talking between friends requires reciprocity. In a
mutually satisfying friendship, both friends talk and
both friends listen. Friends talk appropriately to each
other.
3. Friends Acknowledge Friends.
Friends acknowledge each other when talking. Many
conflicts in your personal relationships can be avoided
if you will take the time to acknowledge other's
feelings and points of view.
4. Friends Listen to Friends.
Listening to friends in an important step in building
a closer friendship. We often take listening for
granted, never realizing what it means to really listen
to a friend.
5. Friends Attend to Friends.
Friends focus during conversations. Friends pay
attention in conversations. It means that your ears,
your eyes, your body and your feelings are all focused
on that person at the time.
6. Friends Show Empathy With Friends.
Empathy is identifying with your friend's feelings
and seeing life through your friend's eyes. Confidences
are freely given when they are received with empathy
among friends.
7. Friends Touch Friends.
Touching is a warm form of communication between
friends. When you see best friends communicating, you
will notice friends "listen with their eyes," stand
close together, and touch comfortably.
8. Friends Praise Friends.
Affirmation is a powerful tool for growing a friend.
Genuine praise can affect your friends' lives. Be
liberal with praise for all of your friends, including
your casual ones.
9. Friends Are Loyal and Trustworthy.
Trust and loyalty go hand-in-hand for friends.
Friends can trust you with their secrets, both large and
small, because good friends never break a confidence.
Good friends are forever loyal!
10. Friends are Equal.
Friends are on a seesaw. In a healthy relationship,
friends are equals. Not 50/50 every time, of course, but
with a true, lasting friendship it always evens out in
the end.
11. Friends Reveal Their Feelings.
We feel closest to our friends when we are suffering
together, when we feel like our friend needs us, or when
we feel a friend has shared something of great
importance with us.
12. Friends Forego Mind Reading.
The friend who thinks, "If you really liked me, you
could read my mind" can not have an adult friendship. No
friend can read your mind. And you can not read your
friend's mind.
As we can see, forming long lasting friendship
requires time, effort, and patience. A friend is not
someone we can buy with money or falsehood, but must
acquire through genuine love and care. Let us strive to
be good friends to others so that our life may also be
enriched by the goodness that friends can provide us. |
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