Elijah’s Whisper – My Whisper

Whispers – Daily Mass Quotes begins after this Intro.
Please scroll down.  Latest entry is the first in list.

Then the LORD said (to Elijah), “Go outside and stand on the mountain before the LORD; the LORD will be passing by.”  A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the LORD – but the LORD was not in the wind.  After the wind there was an earthquake – but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake there was fire – but the LORD was not in the fire. After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound.  When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went and stood at the entrance of the cave. A voice said to him, “Elijah, why are you here?” 1 Kings 19:11-13

Why are YOU here, beloved?

Was it to discover magnificent colors? Was it to find colorful music or awesome videos? Was it just curiosity? Was it accidental? Were you really looking for God, for Hope, for true LOVE somewhere in this menagerie we call the web?

Or were you just hiding in a cave, waiting on the Lord to Whisper in your ear – a Word – LIFE! Life, it’s in You! And YOU are beautiful in the Eyes of God, no matter what the world may say or think.

You are Loved!!

Every day the Lord whispers in our ears – Words of HOPE, Words of LOVE, and maybe not even words – just His JOY in our hearts.

Let’s follow the Scriptures of our daily Mass and see if we can catch those Words – simple but beautiful – Whispers to the Wind . . .

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07-09-20 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes

July 9, 2020
Jesus said to his Apostles: “As you go, make this proclamation:
‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’

There is something coming that you cannot see.  Something more wonderful than you can even imagine.  A new life, a new world, with all the best you have now, and a million times more.  And all the worst you have now – with never even a spark of remembrance of it!

Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons.  Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.

The healing power of the Lord is upon you and with you and in you.  Use it, not in a selfish manner, but in a giving and forgiving and thankful manner.  For it is not yours to keep, but to give!

Do not take gold or silver or copper for your belts; no sack for the journey, or a second tunic, or sandals, or walking stick.  The laborer deserves his keep.

THIS is the true meaning of FAITH.  Like St. Francis who gave it ALL to beg in the streets, who gave even what was given him for his own sustenance, we trust only in God who gives us all we need and the strength to carry on.

Whatever town or village you enter, look for a worthy person in it, and stay there until you leave.

You see, beloved, finding that “worthy person” is not always easy.  The Disciples were sent to their own people, not to the heathen, not to the unbelievers, but to God’s own children (the Israelites).  And yet, sometimes your own family will ignore or reject you, or even hate you.  Sometimes their minds are so closed to anything but their own truth, that they are blind to God’s Truth, to their whole reason for life and breath and hope.  Yes, we are to preach to the WHOLE world through our lives and our actions.  And those seeds may someday find growth where we don’t immediately see it.  But in the meantime, we NEED people who are worthy, people who are open, people who Love!  And THEY are our Church!

As you enter a house, wish it peace.  If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; if not, let your peace return to you.

Ever notice, beloved, how that gift of peace can be burned up, or balled up and thrown right back in your face?  Jesus is telling His Disciples and us not to let those rejections waste OUR peace by getting upset over them.  We are the Givers, not the Gestapo, not the Fuller Brush salesmen.  We’re not looking to sell anything other than God’s love for everyone – with no cost other than its acceptance.  And if that love, that peace is not accepted, don’t lose it over the “unworthy.”  Keep it!  And keep on loving and giving to the next and the next and the next.  And when we encounter those “unworthy” . . .

Whoever will not receive you or listen to your words go outside that house or town and shake the dust from your feet.  Amen, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.”  Mt_10:7-15

Never forget, beloved, that the vengeance is NOT in our hands, but in God’s.  And in the meantime . . . we pray for them – ANYWAY!

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07-08-20 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes

July 8, 2020
Jesus summoned his Twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness.  Mt_10:1-7

If only we TRULY believed!!!  We CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens us! Phil 4:13

Stand firm, beloved, and believe – ALL things are possible!

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07-07-20 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes

July 7, 2020
Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness. At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.   Mt_9:32-38

How many people in our world today are acting just like those abandoned sheep without a shepherd?  They’re lost and angry and find nothing better to do than complain and destroy and kill.  They need a Shepherd!  And not just any shepherd, but One who can lift them up, give them hope and lead them to better pastures.

Jesus is our healer and our hope!  Worried about a virus?  We’ve been living and dying from them for eons.  Take care of  your health and Jesus will take care of your mind.  And maybe when it is our time, no matter how our earthly “tents” may come to their completion, we won’t be worried about death but joyful that we are headed for better pastures.  Jesus promises us that, when we trust in Him and follow His way!

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07-06-20 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes

July 6, 2020
(St. Maria Goretti, Virgin and Martyr)
Jesus said to the hemorrhaging woman who secretly touched his cloak for healing, “Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you.”  And from that hour the woman was cured.  Mt_9:18-26

Shortly thereafter, at the house of a young girl who had died, Jesus came and took her by the hand, and the little girl arose. ibid

Faith, beloved, means believing even the unbelievable.  The hemorrhaging woman had suffered with that condition for twelve long years.  By then, most people would have hopelessly given up on ever being cured.  And yet, her FAITH had saved her!  Never give up on Jesus.

The little girl in the following episode was clearly dead.  She was so dead, as a matter of fact, that the funeral preparations had already begun.  But again, by the faith and love of her father, she was revived through the intervention of Jesus.  The dead come back to life??!!  Anything is possible with FAITH in Jesus!

Even the survival of a terror crazed world!

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07-05-20 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes

July 5, 2020
(14th Sunday Ordinary Time A)
Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”  Mt_11:25-30

It’s OUR Choice!

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07-04-20 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes

July 4, 2020
(St. Elizabeth of Portugal, OFS)
Jesus said to His disciples, “No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse.  People do not put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”  Mt_9:14-17

Guess we need to get with the program, beloved.
OR
As our ancestors did, start a new one.

The question is, which program is better?
Jesus had the better program, because the old kinda lost their perspective on right and wrong and were bursting at the seams to suppress, to belittle and to challenge any attempts to usurp their own power and authority.  And their solution to unwanted change was to kill it.

Like our American founding fathers and like Elizabeth of Portugal, whose “new” was their escape from oppression, and their freedom to worship as they wished and not be taxed, or beaten to death, or unjustly berated, we must remember freedom sometimes comes at the price of lives and sicknesses and hardship.

Sometimes, we just can’t change the old.  And sometimes the old is just re-imaged as something new.  But it really isn’t.  Maybe this recent stirring up of the American and world’s “pot” is an opportunity to get better rather than worse.  We just need to be very careful with which camp we place our tents in.  The wrong choice could just be – much worse than the alternative!

So pray, beloved, discern and follow Jesus in the Way that is Truth, and Life, and Light, and Love, and Hope for ALL!

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07-03-20 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes

July 3, 2020
(St. Thomas, Apostle)
Brothers and sisters: You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.  Eph_2:19-22

. . . And no virus, and no protests, and no six-foot pvc piping, and no home isolation, and no eradication of our signs of peace, will ever separate us from His and our LOVE for one another.  Remember that, beloved, and trust in Jesus.  We are one!

Jesus said to Thomas, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”  Jn_20:24-29

That’s us, beloved!  Though, in many different ways, we HAVE seen!

Believe!!!

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07-02-20 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes

July 2, 2020
(Ss. Marcellinus and Peter, Martyrs)
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Courage, child, your sins are forgiven.”  At that, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.”  Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said, “Why do you harbor evil thoughts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”– he then said to the paralytic, “Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.” He rose and went home.  Mt_9:1-8

Case in point for yesterday’s comment.  Those Pharisees should have been walking on water themselves – to see such love, such faith, such divinity in Jesus.  Instead, the evil in their hearts became jealousy, anger and hatred.  Hatred enough to kill.

Jesus said it over and over in many different ways.  Pluck the beam from your own eye before you condemn the splinter in your brother’s eye.  Judge as you would be judged.  Love as you wish you were loved.

In a world of pointing fingers, slinging mud and blaming others for injustice, where am I in doing or not doing the same?  And I really don’t need the children to teach me how to wash my hands and how not to be a racist.  We need to first look into our own hearts, brothers and sisters in Christ, and then shut up about straightening up everyone else.  Maybe try loving ourselves and others first!  We just might be amazed at what Jesus has to teach us – especially about the meaning of “community.”

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07-01-20 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes

July 1, 2020
(St. Junipero Serra, Priest)
Seek good and not evil, that you may live; Then truly will the LORD, the God of hosts, be with you as you claim!  Hate evil and love good, and let justice prevail at the gate;  Am_5:14-15,21-24

If the Lord is with you, beloved, you’ll find that the evil all around you will pierce your heart and crunch your stomach.  And what is worse is when those you believed to be holy and righteous and leaders in the faith, fall to the whims of the evil ones and begin to thrust that evil on you and blame you for not following them.

Jesus said, ‘blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness.’ Take comfort in His words, beloved, and don’t let yourselves be tainted by their secondary evil.  Regardless of where it’s coming from they’re all the same.  Stay away from them!  And live in the light of the Goodness of Jesus.

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06-30-20 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes

June 30, 2020
Jesus said to His disciples, who were cowering in the boat over a raging tempest, “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?” Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm.  Mt_8:23-27

What are we cowering from, beloved?  It is an invisible virus?  Is it a world gone mad?  Is it the feeling of rejection from lost: loved ones, jobs, hope?  Jesus asks us today, Where is your faith?  Do you not believe that God will take care of you through it all?  He WILL!  So flush those fears from your lives.  Cheer up.  And know that Jesus has and will continue to take care of you.  Trust in Him, and a sunny day will surely be in the forecast.  You ARE loved – take comfort in that!  And Believe!

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06-29-20 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes

June 29, 2020
(Ss. Peter and Paul Apostles)
Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”  They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”  He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”  Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.  For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.”  Mt_16:13-19

Peter knew.  And Paul knew, though it took a little more effort on the part of Jesus in his case, that Jesus, the “Son of Man” is the Christ, the promised one, the redeemer, the Son of God.  If we really don’t believe that, beloved, there is not much anyone can say to us that could change our minds.  But when His light shines in our hearts, when that transformation occurs in our lives – it’s not the words of man that got us there (though they may have helped), it is God Himself who has led us there!  Trust in God, beloved.  Listen for HIS Word.  And then follow.  He can only lead us to something better!

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06-28-20 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes

June 28, 2020
(13th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A)
Brothers and sisters: Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life.  Rom_6:3-4,8-11

In order to get from one room to another we generally walk through a doorway.  That doorway is lower than the ceiling of our room.  It is tighter than the spaciousness of our room.  But it’s also very narrow.  So you don’t really have to be IN that doorway very long, before you’re on the other side.

If you’ve never been through a doorway, it might seem scary, ominous and foreboding.  Now, we might liken a doorway to death.  Death is something we’ve never done.  And yet from our room’s viewpoint, we have no idea what’s on the other side.  We’ve seen friend after friend pass through it, never to be seen again.  Some pass through quickly and they’re gone, while for others it may be a long and difficult process with suffering and pain.

We can read all kinds of books giving their theories and supernatural experiences about death and the “room or rooms” on the other side.  But the very best reference to death we have, and the life thereafter, can only come from the One who personally passed through that doorway Himself and came back to tell the Truth about it all.

His name is Jesus.  And Jesus not only told us before passing through a horrific, suffering death, but He told us after returning, how we could best pass through it ourselves.

Jesus said to his apostles: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.  Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”   Mt_10:37-42

So in order to prepare for our passing through that doorway of death, we must first LOVE Jesus.  We must love Him more than anything or anyone else in this whole world (our room).  And then we have to count our “home” not as THIS room, this life, but as the next.

The next will be better.  Then next will be with the one we love most, Jesus.  The next will be in reunion with all who have passed through that doorway before us.  The next will be more perfect than anything we’ve ever experienced in this beautiful, but imperfect room of life we’re living.

It is our GRAND Hope!  But not even our hope.  When we believe Jesus, when we love Jesus, when we trust that what He said is absolutely true, then Eternal, Heavenly Life is a given.  All we have to do is pass through that doorway!  And death will no longer have any dreadful connotations in our thoughts!  It’s just another doorway.  And we’ve ‘been there and done that’ before.  So many doorways.  What a glorious concept (FACT), when death no longer has that ominous stranglehold on us!  Praise be to Jesus for showing us the way, and the truth, and the life that awaits us all – when we believe, when we love!!!

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06-27-20 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes

June 27, 2020
When Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully.”  He said to him, “I will come and cure him.”
The centurion said in reply, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed. . . .
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.” . . .  And Jesus said to the centurion, “You may go; as you have believed, let it be done for you.” And at that very hour his servant was healed.   Mt_8:5-17

The strength, the power, the miraculous possibilities when we have faith!  Believe that Jesus is here with us now, beloved, and that He has the power to answer whatever we pray for.  His ‘will’ be done – as we have believed!

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06-26-20 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes

June 26, 2020
When Jesus came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him.  And then a leper approached, did him homage, and said, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, “I will do it. Be made clean.”  His leprosy was cleansed immediately.  Mt_8:1-4

Christ took away our infirmities
and bore our diseases.
Mt_8:17

Stressed?  Tired of all this evil?  Not finding a single soul you can confide in?  Someone who can see the “whole” picture.  The picture of how wrong everything is that’s going on, because of the lies and the twisted agendas of our ‘lost world,’ who believe it all.  Well, you’re not alone!  Be cautious of what you read and believe, beloved.  Much of it is not truth.  But the true answers are obvious in our Scriptures.

If you’re staying close to Jesus, if you’re allowing His willingness to heal you, if you’re keeping as safe as YOU can, despite all the doom and gloom, He will give you His peace and healing.  Don’t allow them to convince you that you’re the one who is evil.  We’ve been down this road time after time in the past.  WE are NOT the evil ones!  Believe that.  And know that Jesus will heal our world, beginning with us!  Love, and know that YOU are Loved, despite the lies to the contrary!  You are not alone!  The peace and love of Christ is in you.  And together we are ONE!

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06-25-20 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes

June 25, 2020
Jesus said, “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.  The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house.  But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house.  And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”  Mt_7:21-29

Find Jesus.  Listen to Him.  And then Act on those words.  It’s not only what we profess, but how we live those words ourselves.  Jesus teaches us to love and tell.  We need to build our own houses on the rock foundation of Jesus’ words – love.  And then we share those homes (that love) with those in need.  When we do this, beloved, we will have a secure home with God forever!

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06-24-20 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes

June 24, 2020
(The Nativity of St. John the Baptist)
Though I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength, yet my reward is with the LORD, my recompense is with my God.  For now the LORD has spoken, who formed me as his servant from the womb, that Jacob may be brought back to him and Israel gathered to him; and I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD, and my God is now my strength!  Is_49:1-6

GLORIOUSLY was John created in Elizabeth’s womb.  For God had loved him before he was even conceived.  And we can say the same for every one of us, beloved.  We have been conceived out of the glorious love of God and our parents.

Now, maybe those parents didn’t really know what they were doing when they raised us.  And maybe everything they did was not exactly according to God’s, or our liking.  But if our parents relied upon God to train them in the ways of child-bearing, to strengthen them in the challenges of such an important task, and to teach them patience, then we are fortunate enough to have some pretty awesome parents.  Not only our human, fleshly parents, but unquestionably, our Spiritual ones – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

No matter where we stand as children of parents and children of God, we always have God to support us in raising our own children and grandchildren.  John the Baptist may never have had the recourse to raise children of his own, but he surely inspired many a new parent in an extraordinary love for God and a firm trust in His Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ, Savior of us all!

I give thanks every day for God’s glorious gift of our children.  Like us or not, we will love them forever!!!

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06-23-20 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes

June 23, 2020
Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces.  “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.  This is the Law and the Prophets.  Mt_7:6,12-14

After just hearing about not being judgmental yesterday, today we’re told not to share God’s holiness with dogs or swine.  So, who are these dogs and swine? And how do we know they’re dogs or swine unless we judge them?  And what about all that talk about God’s love and how we should love everyone, even our enemies?  And didn’t Jesus share the “Good News” of God’s love with everyone, even those Pharisees who would eventually have Him killed?

Well, I guess the point is, that if someone is professing hatred and murder and all kinds of evil, it’s not really smart to try to convert them, because they’ll just throw your goodness back in your face along with all their hatred and murder and evil besides!  Those are the swine and the dogs.  And we don’t really have to judge them, they’ve already done it for themselves.  So, in those cases we just have to be careful and discerning.

And yet, on the other hand we also don’t have to hate them back because of their state of being lost.  Instead, with that ‘love for enemies’ virtue, we can pray for them without incurring their wrath upon us.  God will do whatever needs to be done when we simply plant His seeds.  And those seeds could be prayer as well as verbal evangelization or righteous and joyful modeling.

Jesus said, “Do unto others what we we would have them do unto us.”  This is God’s, Jesus’ law of love!  And this is our calling and our responsibility, just as it was the Prophets!

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06-22-20 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes

June 22, 2020
(Ss, Paulinus of Nola, Bishop; John Fisher, Bishop and Martyr;  and Thomas More, Martyr)
Jesus said to his disciples: “Stop judging, that you may not be judged.  For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.”  Mt_7:1-5

In a world of judgment and judgmentalism, we find the peace of not doing so.  We find the joy of “letting bygones be bygones” and moving on with our own lives.  And yet, we also find ourselves constantly judged by others:  too young, too old, too white, too black, not fit, too fit, clean, dirty, rich, poor.  Seems we’re never good enough for someone or other.  But, when we can learn to let it all go for the glory of God.  Let them say what they will, and  just be thankful for what we’ve got or even what we don’t.  Then, instead of judging, we’ll pray for them and hope that someday they won’t get their just or deserving recompense, as the Scriptures tell us.  And if we don’t, we just might all end up blind, mindless and speechless.  Praise be to God for Thanksgiving, the cure for judgmentalism.

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06-21-20 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes

June 21, 2020
(12th Sunday Ordinary Time A)
Jesus said, “Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.”  Mt_10:26-33

We are God’s children.  Jesus is our brother and our God and Savior as well.  We love all!  Happy Father’s Day, Abba!  And, thank you Jesus, together with the Holy Spirit!

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06-20-20 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes

June 20, 2020
(Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary)
Having lost track of where their son Jesus was . . . When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us?  Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he said to them. He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them;  Lk_2:41-51

Ever run into those people, beloved, who just don’t seem to understand you.  I think every child who’s ever lived with parents discovers this.  And actually their parents probably feel the same way.  But there is a built in hierarchy of respect and responsibility in all parent-child relationships, and Jesus fully understood this.  Regardless if Mary and Joseph understood Him or not, Jesus knew that He was responsible to them.  And He, even though He was God, chose to step down to live that responsibility, to give that respect to His parents.  And we have to live the same respect with our bosses, our government, and even our neighbors.  Sometimes we just have to step down from ourselves and live the lives God has blessed us with!

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06-19-20 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes

June 19, 2020
(Most Sacred Heart of Jesus)
Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”  Mt_11:25-30

This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us, that he has given us of his Spirit.  Moreover, we have seen and testify that the Father sent his Son as savior of the world.  Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him and he in God. We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.  God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him. 1_Jn_4:7-16

It’s all about love.

Happy Anniversary to my dearest beloved!!

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06-18-20 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes

June 18, 2020
Jesus said to his disciples: “In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words.  Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” Mt_6:7-15

God Knows!

All we have to do is convince ourselves!

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06-17-20 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes

June 17, 2020
Jesus said to his disciples: “Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.”  Mt_6:1-6,16-18

BECAUSE . . .  ???

Because that’s called “Pride.”  And thus, what you did was not done out of love for others, but love for yourself, out of greed.

“So, be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  And love for the sake of loving others!

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06-16-20 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes

June 16, 2020
Jesus said to his disciples:  “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father,”  Mt_5:43-48

Continuing on His theme of the true meaning of Love in His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus today goes one step further than his reprimand for revenge yesterday.  Love means, not only forgiving and giving (even when not asked for), but it means “loving” those who despise you, those who hurt you, those whom you might even consider your enemies!

Was Jesus using a hyperbole in saying this?  Some contend that this surely must have been the case.  But, just look at it.  Jesus wanted His disciples, actually everyone, to be at peace within themselves and the world they live in.  And what is the primary peace destroyer?  Hatred!  If we live a life feeling that everyone is our enemy.  Then our natural instinct is to hate them back (it’s the old revenge thing.)  And there goes our peace!

But if we can convince ourselves that I CAN forgive him in my heart, I can love him anyway and let go of all that animosity, then THERE’s our peace.  Sure they can go on believing that we are  their enemies, but they don’t really have to be our enemies – that side of it is OUR choice.  And in that Choice is our resolve.  There is our peace – just as Jesus told us!  And isn’t that a whole lot more beautiful than living in stress and hatred and anger!!!  LOVE!

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06-15-20 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes

June 15, 2020
Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said,
‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’  But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.”   Mt_5:38-42

Moral Theology 101:  Thou shalt not take revenge!  We live in a world, beloved, where that level of morality is totally forgotten.  From the age of the youngest TV audience, we are taught to poke that eye and smash that tooth.  But not even just equivalent revenge, let’s make it 4X worse.  And as we age, the examples in the movies and, let’s bring it to reality, in the media, in our world politics and wars and streets are overabundant.  Everything is about “getting back.”  How often do we hear of someone doing something good for others?  Not that it’s never done, but it certainly is more rare, or at least much less publicized than the opposite.

Jesus is prompting us to move over to the side of Goodness.  Don’t let the evil doers change you into one yourself.  Turn the other cheek.  Forgive and give, even when it’s not asked for.  And, you know who the winner will be, beloved, YOU!

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06-14-20 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes

June 14, 2020
(Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ – Corpus Christi)
St. Paul wrote, “Brothers and sisters: The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?  The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body,
for we all partake of the one loaf.”  1_Cor_10:16-17

There, IS the unity of the Christian Family, the Body and Blood of Christ, living within ALL of us!  For . . .

Jesus said to the Jewish crowds: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” . . . “Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.”  Jn_6:51-58

Food!  We can’t live without it, and yet we struggle with not having too much, with having the right kinds, with not poisoning ourselves, with not becoming too addicted to it.  The “food” that Jesus gives us, though, doesn’t weigh us down.  Instead, it lifts us up.  It heals us and it binds us to one another.  It truly is the Food of life – the bread and the wine, the Body and Blood that makes us whole – That’s our Jesus – always looking after us!

The Greatest Miracle

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06-13-20 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes

June 13, 2020
(St. Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church)
Jesus said, “Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’
Anything more is from the Evil One.” Mt_5:33-37

That’s a pretty heavy one, beloved.  How many yeses do we say that have hidden escape clauses?  We put them in our marriages.  We put them in our insurance policies.  We put them in our car warranties, our jobs.  They’re just about everywhere (‘except if…’).  And we can almost say the same thing about our nos.  Jesus is simply prompting us today to be honest with one another.  Because anything else will always lead to the rupture of relationships.  And that’s exactly what the “Evil One” is seeking!

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Now this is going backwards, but yesterday’s Gospel struck a chord with me when I heard it in our morning Mass.  Can you see it?

Jesus said, “if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna.”   Mt_5:27-32

Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing, nor do you consider that it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish.”   Jn_11:49-50

Jesus and the Pharisees were both looking at the same picture, but on very different scales.  The Pharisees were concentrating on the temporal scale.  The scale of self preservation, of body and now, of nation and not world.  While Jesus was looking at the eternal scale, the scale of endless time, the scale of all creation, the whole world.

Caiaphas saw Jesus as the threat.  And yet, for Caiaphas, Jesus would also serve as the means of their temporal salvation.  Jesus saw the threat, not as a person, but as sin, with again, Himself as our salvation from that sin.

Jesus taught us that temptation to sin is not something we have a whole lot of control over, just as the Pharisees had very little control over the Romans.  But Jesus IS the answer to our temptations.  He is our strength, when we believe.  And He gives us reason to believe.  We believe because we understand, we know, that we have a higher calling, an eternal calling.  BY the death of that one Man, we HAVE been saved.  We will not perish.  (Sin has been cut OFF from us for the salvation of the body.)  But it’s not just our survival of the temporal battle.  It is our survival of the whole war!  Jesus has won that war for us.  All we need do is believe and follow!

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06-12-20 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes

June 12, 2020
Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went and stood at the entrance of the cave.  A voice said to him, “Elijah, why are you here?”  He replied, “I have been most zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts.  But the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to the sword.  I alone am left, and they seek to take my life.”  1_Kgs_19:9a,11-16

Recognize this quote, beloved?  It’s the continuation of our webpage theme story of Elijah and the “whispering wind.”  The wind that whispers and nobody hears.

Funny, lately, in exacerbation of the last three months of solitude and loneliness, in a world crazed by invisible or made up terrors, I’m finding too many unanswered emails, or phone calls that never make their connection and when they do, the party on the other side can’t seem to hear a word I say.  I feel like the “invisible man!”  And yet, my family and friends are dying away, I’ve been rejected, not only job after job, but even, now, from my volunteer jobs.  And I know that all of you are in exactly the same boat.

And God says, “Why are you here, Joe and Bill and Susie and Tara” hiding in this cave?

Because they’re trying to take our lives too.
We’re all that’s left of a dying generation.
A generation who loves.
A generation who sees the absurdity of it all.
A generation who just wants to meet with God, finally, face-to-face, forever!

So, go then, beloved!  Fly across the skies.  Explore the depths of true life.  Bring cheer to the downtrodden.  Forewarn the evildoers.  And give thanks that we are even able to think of the Glories of God, let alone experience them.  And the Glories of God WILL BE ours, now and forever!  Praise Jesus!  And carry on…

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06-11-20 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes

June 11, 2020
(St. Barnabas, Apostle)
In those days a great number who believed turned to the Lord. The news about them reached the ears of the Church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to go to Antioch. When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to remain faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart, for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith.  Acts_11:21b-26;13:1-3

Yes, this Barnabas was, as his name implied, “a Son of Encouragement.”  And that encouragement led to many new believers as well as encouraging the weary.  How encouraging are we, beloved?  Would someone want to become a Christian because of knowing us?  It doesn’t always take that perfect personality or that magnetic charisma.  All it takes is truth in compassion and our conscientious, unwavering faith in Jesus.  As Jesus tells us, ‘They will know us by our love!’  Jn_13:35  And by that Love, they will follow!

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06-10-20 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes

June 10, 2020
Jesus said, “whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”   Mt_5:17-19

How often in life do we find that the ‘old’ rules are lost or forgotten, only to be replaced with new, watered down rules that do nothing to improve our lives, rather degrade them.

Jesus taught us that the old rules (the Commandments) could be most simply explained through love.  We respect God because we love Him.  We respect our parents, because we love them.  We respect our neighbors because we even love them too.  And we respect our possessions, and those of others, not because we love those possessions, but because we know that they are all gifts from God and from others, to us, out of their love for us (even if we thought we earned them ourselves).

This does not water down any of the detailed Commandments that God gave to us through Moses.  Rather it helps us to understand those commandments from a whole new point of view.  They are not those nasty orders that we hate receiving, because we just don’t like others telling us what to do.  They are instead, “complementary enlightenments,” lights along the path of love, that bring us ALL the JOY God wants us to have in our own lives.  Follow, and you will be living in His Kingdom, now and forever!  What better instruction, what better commandment, what better Gift could we possibly be given!

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06-09-20 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes

June 9, 2020
(St. Ephrem, Deacon and Doctor of the Church)
Jesus said, “You are the light of the world.  A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.  Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.”   Mt_5:13-16

And in honor of Jesus, our Father and St. Ephrem, we sing: “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.  This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.  This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!!!!”

. . . because, it is the light of Jesus, it is the light of the Holy Spirit and it shines, all to the Glory of God.

Thank you Jesus for opening our eyes to see the light within us.  And instead of hiding it or hoarding it or wasting it, we let it shine for a world so in need of YOUR light and hope!

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