Topic: Prophecy Meditation
Medjugorje Day By Day Nov 20 - WHEN MY SON WAS DYING
"Has the tender love of a father or the liberality of a king toward its
subjects ever reached as far as the love of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament?" (St. John Vianney).
Sunday, Eve of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
As a small child, Mary was presented to the Lord in the temple by her
parents, Sts. Anne and Joachim. Pray "that from this Year of the Eucharist, they [priests] may draw the fruit of a renewed Love for the Sacrament they celebrate.
Through the intercession of the Virgin Mother of God, may they always live and bear witness to the mystery that is put in their hands for the saving of the world" (Pope Benedict XVI, Sept. 18, 2005).
Read and meditate on the following.
Then whenever hardships arise just say
"Praise God" "Thank you Lord"
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Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:10
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It is always astounding to people of small imagination that their ancestors could hate, persecute and kill saints. We imagine that we are 2000 years smarter than the people who put Jesus to death. We think ourselves wiser than the people who despised Lincoln, or St. Thomas Aquinas, or Joan of Arc.
But the reality is that saints often come to us in very repulsive forms, challenging our deepest and most cherished bigotries. They are antidotes to the popular poisons of the age. And because they are antidotes they are often mistaken for poison and hated for it. Jesus endured just such hatred. He and His followers were assured by all the leading authorities that His lot was with the wicked and that anyone who followed Him would share His fate among the "accursed" who hung from the tree of the Cross.
But God had an altogether different opinion. He called Jesus His Beloved Son and gave Him kingship, not only over heaven, but over the whole universe as well. We shall share in that kingship, if we remain with Him. And the paradoxical sign of our share in that kingship will be our share in His sufferings and the hatred of the enemies we are called to love and forgive. Even such hate cannot touch our union with Him.
"When we come back in the evening we have one hour of adoration before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, and [at] this you will be surprised: We have not had to cut down our work for the poor. The one hour of adoration is the greatest gift God could give a community because . . . we love the poor with greater and deeper faith and love" Bl. Teresa of Calcutta
The Barber
A man went to a barber-shop to have his hair and his beard cut as always. He started to have a good conversation with the barber who attended him. They talked about various things and various subjects. Suddenly, they touched the subject of God.
The barber said: "Look man, I don't believe that God exists as you say."
"Why do you say that?" asked the client.
"Well, it's so easy, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God does not exist. Oh, tell me, if God existed, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be no suffering nor pain. I can't think of loving a God who permits all of these things."
The client stopped for a moment, thinking, but he didn't want to respond so as not to cause an argument. The barber finished his job and the client went out of the shop. Just as he got out of the barber shop he saw a man in the street with long and unkempt hair and beard (it looked like it had been a long time since he had his cut, and he looked so untidy).
The client entered the barber shop again and he said to the barber:
"You know what? Barbers do not exist."
"How can you say they don't exist?" asked the barber. "I am a barber and here I am, I exist!"
"No!" the client exclaimed. "They don't exist because if they did there would be no people with long hair and beard like that man on the street." "Ah, barbers do exist, what happens is that people do not come to me."
"Exactly!" affirmed the client. "That's the point. God does exist, what happens is people don't go to Him and do not look for Him. That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world."
Mother Teresa -
Each one of us is what he is in the eyes of God.
Meditations by Padre Pio - Courage, courage, children are not nails.
Archbishop Fulton Sheen -
The treasures of self-sacrifice
"The best influences in life are undeliberate, unconscious; when no one is watching, or when reaction to the good deed was never sought. Such is the long-range influence of a mother in a home; fulfilling of daily duties with love and a spirit of self-sacrifice leaves an imprint on the children that deepens with the years. St. Francis has done much to influence painting, though he was not an artist. Great artists have influenced millions to love beauty, though their intention was never to be so remembered."
St. Faustina's diary http://www.marian.org/directory_flash.html -
I must never speak of my own experiences. In suffering, I must seek relief in prayer. In doubts, even the smallest, I must seek only the advice of my confessor. I must always have a heart which is open to receive the sufferings of others, and drown my own sufferings in the Divine Heart so that they would not be noticed on the outside, insofar as possible.
I must always strive for equanimity, no matter how stormy the circumstances might be. I must not allow anything to disturb my interior calm and silence. Nothing can compare with peace of soul. When I am wrongfully accused of something, I will not explain myself; if the superior wants to know the truth, whether I was in the right or not, let her find out from others rather than from me. My concern is to accept everything with a humble inner disposition. (792)
I have experienced how much envy there is, even in religious life. I see that there are few truly great souls, ready to trample on everything that is not God. O soul, you will find no beauty outside of God. Oh, how fragile is the foundation of those who elevate themselves at the expense of others! What a loss! (833)
Dailys - http://www.catholic-forum.com/e-pistle.html -
Quote of the Day An evil thought defiles the soul when it is deliberate and is consented to. Our Lord placed evil thoughts at the head of all crimes, because they are their principle and source. -St. John Baptist de la Salle
Today's Tidbit In the final two weeks of the liturgical year the readings at Mass begin to focus on end times and the Second Coming. These readings help us recognize our own sinfulness and reform our lives.
MEDJUGORJE DAY BY DAY
These thoughts for a day are taken from a daily meditation book based on the Messages of Our Lady of Medjugorje by Father Richard J. Beyer, Ave Maria Press. To
Nov 20 - WHEN MY SON WAS DYING
On Good Friday in 1990, the Virgin gave this message to the visionary's prayer group:
Dear children, I am happy to see you tonight. You know, dear children, that when my Son was dying I was alone with him with only a few other women, but tonight I am happy that so many of you are with me. Tonight, when you return home, pray a rosary in front of your crucifix and be thankful (Visionary Prayer Group April 13, 1990).
Speaking of the crucifixion, St. Luke writes:
And when all the crowds who had gathered there for this spectacle saw what had taken place, they returned home, beating their breasts. But all his acquaintances, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood, at a distance, watching these things (Lk 23:48-49).
Reflection:
When the H.M.S. Birkenhead sank, Alexander Russell, a young officer age seventeen, was ordered to command one of the boats which carried the women and children. As they were pushing off, a sailor who was drowning clasped the side of the boat, but there was no room for even one more. A woman in the boat
cried, "Save him! He's my husband."
Alexander Russell rose, and in a quick movement jumped clear of the boat. He sank in the water, which was full of sharks, and was seen no more as the sailor he had saved was then pulled aboard to safety.
In the end, nothing is more beautiful than love. Yet as beautiful as it is, love is more practical than pretty. Real love deals with the real world, where there's no prettiness. Yet there is beauty.
The sight of Jesus bowing under the weight of the cross, his stumbling, bruising falls on the road, his cries from the cross, his sweat, his blood, his dying breath. None is a pretty sight. Yet how beautiful! Men have tried for centuries to capture the beauty in that ugliness. Some of the greatest works of art have tried to portray the crucified yet beautiful Savior.
Here is God in our flesh, cruelly betrayed, tortured, and nailed to the cross.
What could be uglier?
Nothing. Unless something more beautiful than beauty was there on that hill.
Unless the ugly horror was transcended and transformed, made holy.
And it was. Each time we kneel at the foot of the cross, as we gaze in wonder upon the suffering Servant, no beauty can compare. The glory is overwhelming.
Application:
Today, simply heed Our Lady's request in her message: "Pray the rosary in front of your crucifix with great thankfulness."