Whispers – Daily Mass Quotes begins after this Intro.
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Elijah’s Whisper – My Whisper
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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04-30-22 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes
April 30, 2022
The disciples of Jesus rowed into the Sea of Galilee and encountered a storm. They saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they began to be afraid. But he said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.” Jn_6:16-21
Having just witnessed the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves, the disciples were still in the stupor of awe as they rowed out into the sea. You know the feeling when you just hear that someone you love passed on, or you just exit that ‘after work’ pub, or witness an accident first-hand. It’s then, that even the gentlest, normal, anomalies (like storms on the Galilee, which were pretty normal), can bring you to a frazzle.
But what about some true anomaly, like a human person walking on water? I think I would have been just as terrified as those disciples, kind of like being in that dream world of the movie Inception. And Jesus then had the job of calming them down. “Do not be afraid!” He said. I don’t think He was quite sure that was going to work this time. And He didn’t want them drowning themselves. So this time, in John’s version of the storm calming . . . we hear that “the boat immediately arrived at the shore to which they were heading.” ibid
Sometimes Jesus just had to take the bull by the horns and fix-it. But most times, it’s more likely that WE need to remember He’s always there with us, on the water, in the air, in our car, everywhere! Take a deep, calming breath, praise the Lord, and know that NOTHING is beyond God, beyond Jesus to fix, even US!
04-29-22 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes
April 29, 2022
(St. Catherine of Siena, Virgin, Religious and Doctor of the Church)
A Pharisee in the Sanhedrin named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, respected by all the people, stood up, ordered the Apostles to be put outside for a short time, and said to the Sanhedrin, “Fellow children of Israel, be careful what you are about to do to these men. . . . I tell you, have nothing to do with these men, and let them go. For if this endeavor or this activity is of human origin, it will destroy itself. But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God.” Acts_5:34-42
Following Jesus’s miracle of the multiplication of the loaves, feeding 5000-people from just a few loaves of bread and fish, the people said, “This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.” Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone. Jn_6:1-15
Today we run full-circle in our week, to the reason for Mark’s “Messianic Secret” that we spoke about Monday. You see, the message about the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves, was not about – “Look how great I am, come and make me king!” but that God provides for ALL of our needs, no matter how insurmountable they may seem.
Jesus knew, that the one thing the masses could not psychologically do without – was food. Yes, the Word of God should have been enough to feed them, Spiritually, for a very long time. But having gone through His own 40-day fast, Jesus knew the power that Satan’s temptations can have on the mind.
Without food, the people would get grumpy, start bickering and fighting, and forget all about the Spiritual goodness that Jesus had taught them, and the healings He had done. It’s just something we need to always remember, beloved, the next time we’re confronted with a seemingly impossible situation.
Somewhere out there, there’s always a Gamaliel or a Catherine of Siena, making sense out of the senseless, finding reason in the unreasonable, maintaining order out of the chaos, depending on God for the answers, and bringing His peace.
But remember, beloved, we too have the Holy Spirit within us, through our Baptism and Confirmation. And that Holy Spirit helps us to BE those Gamaliels and Catherines in our hurting world; to calm the storms in our own lives and those of others and to feed one another with God’s Love and our own, sometimes meager, resources.
All we need do is listen to the Spirit’s directions and faithfully, trustingly respond, as we find our own baskets filled to abundance. Thanks be to God
04-28-22 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes
April 28, 2022
(St. Peter Chanel, Priest and Martyr, St. Louis Mary de Montfort, Priest)
Jesus said, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him.” Jn_3:31-36
Throughout this third Chapter of John’s Gospel, in Jesus’ discourse with Nicodemus, Jesus drills down into the deeper meaning of Faith. What began as a simple question by Nicodemus of Who Jesus is, turned into an intellectual discussion about levels of understanding of earthly and heavenly things. What began with a simple talk about wind and water, turned into the Spirit, the Truth and the Light of Baptism. What began as simple Belief in Jesus, turned into the grace of Faith in God. Faith that means a whole lot more than just intellectual belief.
That car, for example, that’s sitting in our garage – with no gas in it – is really just a useless relic, unless it’s put into action; and the same is true with our Faith.
Faith can never be – just an intellectual decision – that exists independently of our behavior. Faith must involve both the ascent of the mind and the consent of the will. Minds, lifted up like that snake on a pole, or that cross of Jesus. Minds resurrected to new life in the Spirit, and then willingly, and even excitedly, put into ACTION.
St. James asks us “What good is it, if someone says he has Faith, but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” (Jas 2:14) Just so, Jesus gives us this hallmark statement today, to conclude this masterpiece of the 3rd Chapter of John.
Here, for the third time, Jesus says, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.” Not life that sits around in its tomb waiting for an angel to free it, like the car without gas. But life that excitedly and fearlessly proclaims God’s Love FOR and TO the world.
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.”
BUT, Jesus does not counter that statement, this time, with “Whoever does NOT believe…”
Instead, He says,
“Whoever DISOBEYS the Son will not see life.”
You see, even though Faith and Faithfulness may be two sides of the same coin, the OPPOSITE of Faith is NOT just Unbelief, but DISOBEDIENCE.
The Sanhedrin, who denied belief in Jesus, were sucked into that whirlpool of sin, in disobedience to even their own laws. Sin, first, in conspiracy against God, against Jesus, and then in His murder. And today we hear how they blatantly denied that they had anything to do with the Lord’s death.
And when confronted with the TRUTH of their disobedience against God, and His Law, and His Son, by the apostles, they spiraled into furious anger.
Unbelief and Disobedience are all too often – close bed partners that not only lead to their own dire consequences, but Jesus warns that their true destiny is the wrath of God and the absence of LIFE.
Yet, thanks be to God, it’s not OUR destiny.
For we, who believe, and live that Faith in Jesus have nothing less than eternal life to look forward to, as long as we continue to pray for perseverance in our Faith, and we strive to bless our world with God’s Love by allowing the Holy Spirit to actively work through us.
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04-27-22 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes
April 27, 2022
God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, Jn_3:16-21
As THE most, well known verse in all the Bible, in all the world, Jn 3:16 is well deserving of that title. For, in the very least amount of words, it perfectly describes our God, His Plan, our Choice and His Reward.
“For God so loved the world…”
despite all the reasons we give God NOT to. . . .
Despite our abuse of Him, our abuse of our brothers and sisters in humanity, 
our abuse of His creation and even ourselves. Despite it all, God STILL Loves us!
A love not just in words and hand gestures, but a love Proven to us – through His Incarnation.
For it was out of God’s unfathomable Love for us, that He gave his very self.
“For God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son…”
You see, it was not because we needed His salvation (although we actually did). And it was not because of that “truly necessary Sin of Adam” that Thomas Aquinas proclaims in the Easter Exsultet. It was not that WE caused God to respond to our sinfulness; that WE DROVE God’s response to become man.
But it was truly, purely, out of God’s Love for us.
The Love of the Incarnation was IN God’s Plan before the creation of the universe. It is out of God’s Love – that He gives. And it is IN that same Love – that we are redeemed. . . .
Because, even when we mishandled that most beautiful Gift of God’s immense Love, His Incarnation: to live among those He loved, to teach, and to heal, and to reveal Himself; . . . Even when we thought we could ERASE that Love from the masterpiece of His Creation and take claim for it, all to ourselves. . . . Even out of the darkness, the brilliant Light of God’s Love reveals ALL.
“For God so loved the world,
that He gave His only begotten Son –
SO THAT everyone who believes in Him
might not perish, but might have eternal life.”
God’s LOVE,
His PLAN,
our CHOICE,
and His REWARD.
It’s all the undeniable TRUTH of Life.
The blinding LIGHT of reality.
And IF we don’t believe it, all we need do – is try to test it. (And it’s been done a thousand times already.) Just like the Pharisees, and just like all the dictators, throughout the ages, who fell and will continue to fall. For we know, that when those Pharisees thought they could Erase Love – by death,
LOVE came back!
And when those Sadducees thought that they could hold His apostles, His messengers of that Love, in a tomb – in order to silence them, the very next day, when those Sadducees returned, all they found, was an EMPTY tomb, just like the empty tomb of Jesus.
And when the Sanhedrin were all ready to do it, all over again, it was the very same crowd they used to condemn Jesus, to condemn Love, that very same crowd, who now served – as their own demise.
God’s love cannot and will not
ever be Erased.
Evil begets its own demise.
And Love is Eternal.
As for we and our households – we will always
Choose Love, Choose Life, Choose Jesus!
We will serve the Lord!
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04-26-22 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes
April 26, 2022
Jesus said, “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” Jn_3:7b-15
Following on the heels of Thomas’s profession of faith that we heard this past Sunday, all of this week’s daily Gospel readings address the topic of faith, of belief. In four of those readings, Jesus specifically describes the rewards of Belief and the consequences of disbelief, Salvation or Condemnation, Eternal Life or the wrath of God, Nourishment or Starvation
In Jesus’ discourse with Nicodemus today, it’s easy for us to understand, after the fact of His crucifixion, that in referring to the snake on the pole, which Moses lifted up in the desert, Jesus was alluding to Himself being raised up on the cross.
And yet, in the moment, Nicodemus had no idea what Jesus was talking about. Being a Pharisee and teacher himself, Nicodemus was well familiar with the story of Moses and the snakes that were devouring the unbelieving Israelites in their Exodus from Egypt. And he also understood how God gave those grumbling Israelites a clear test of their faith, in that, IF they gazed upon that bronze snake mounted on a pole, AND Believed in God, they would be healed. It’s kind of a funny story, that ended some 500-years later, when King Hezekiah destroyed that seraphic relic – because the people were worshiping it, – in their ignorance of who God really was.
And yet, it’s in this pivotal dialogue between Jesus and the semi-believing Pharisee, Nicodemus, under the cover of darkness, that St. John is really reaching out to us, brothers and sisters, about the strength of our own faith, and about our own open-mindedness to believe what’s right here in front of us.
On a scale of being an “unbeliever”
– to a “pole worshiper,”
– to a “searcher” like Nicodemus
– to a “give away all my possessions, deep believer” – where do we stand?
Well, to start with, we wouldn’t even be here – unless we were at least at the Nicodemus, faith seeking stage.
But, in this Nicodemus discourse, can we see the tie of the “Water and the Spirit,” that Jesus speaks of, the tie to His own, and our own baptisms?
Can we see the spiritually enlightening connection between Nicodemus – in the dark – and that very first Creative sentence in the very first Book of the Bible, Genesis, where it says that:
“When God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless wasteland and darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty wind (the Spirit) swept over the water. And God SAID, “Let there be light.” (Gn_1:1-3)
Can we see the tie between the Water and the Spirit, the Light and the very Life that God created out of the clay of the ground and the breath of the Spirit?
Did Jesus, did John, not tell us precisely that Story in the Prologue to His Gospel, where he says: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
that – “He was in the beginning with God.”
that – “All things came to be through him, and”
that – “without him, nothing came to be.”
that – “What came to be through him was Life, and this life was the Light of the human race;”
and that – “the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not” nor will it ever “overcome”
the LIGHT of Christ within us.
_____
When we can finally understand all of that, bros and sis, then we’re also coming to understand that when Jesus spoke of being lifted up, beyond just the snake on a pole, and beyond the man on a cross, Jesus was speaking of His Resurrection.
In the Glory of the Resurrection, born of His unfathomable love for us, WHEN we Believe, we actually begin to Live – that “eternal life,” where “Eternal Life” means more than just a length of time, but a QUALITY of Life, in Love with God and one another.
When we can begin to see all these things, then, then we’re beginning to become that “give away all my possessions, deep believer” that Barnabas and so many others WERE in the early Apostolic days.
Then we’re beginning to travel on our own journeys of eternal life, right here and now.
Jesus is inviting us to “Come and Believe”
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04-25-22 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes
April 25, 2022
(St. Mark, Evangelist)
The God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory through Christ Jesus will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you after you have suffered a little. To him be dominion forever. Amen. 1_Pt_5:5b-14
Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Mk_16:15-20
Did you ever have to suffer some kind of trial in life, beloved, only to find out that eventually the burden really does get lighter, the persecution disappears, the loneliness dissolves, or some amazing new strength comes over you to help you endure it? This is the working of the Holy Spirit, the Christ in you. And this is the Gospel of God’s love for every one of us who are called to go out and preach the Good News.
It’s a healing message,
it’s a strengthening message,
it’s an enlightening message,
it’s a hope-filled message . . .
There IS relief! There is a “better” yet to come, even if everything seems to be just fine for some of us, right now. Everyone could always use some “Good News” now and again!
Today we celebrate the Feast Day of St. Mark the evangelist. Of course we all know that the Gospel of Mark is the oldest and the shortest of the three Synoptic Gospels – of Matthew, Mark and Luke. It was written in Rome and was addressed to the Christians of Gentile or non-Jewish origin.
Mark repeatedly presents Jesus as “the Son of God,” emphasizing His Divinity, while steering us away from a kingly, political representation of Jesus by using, what’s often called “the Messianic Secret,” where Jesus tells the recipients of His healings to keep the matter to themselves. Of course, we rarely see that “secret” kept.
Which leads us to finding Jesus hiding from the crowds, who insist on making Him just that kind of king, and not the humble, servant of God that Jesus professes Himself to be, and strives for us to become.
And yet, beyond that Christology of Mark’s Gospel there is an underlying and mysterious tone to Mark himself. I once read a fictional novel called The Christ Commission by a renowned motivational speaker and author named Og Mandino. In it, the main character finds himself thrust back to the year 36 ad in search of the truth about the Resurrection of Christ.
You see, the Gospel narratives tell us a lot about the love of God, the suffering of Jesus and the post-resurrection exploits of some of the Apostles. But there really are a lot of holes that a fictional novelist could have quite a bit of fun with – without distorting the big picture. And Og Mandino is truly a master storyteller.
In the Christ Commission, Og inserts two very interesting propositions involving young John Mark. Missing from any of the other Synoptics and from John’s Gospel, Mark notes, in Mk 14:51, that after all the other disciples fled from the scene on the Mount of Olives at the time of Jesus’s arrest, there was one lone disciple who narrowly escaped capture, losing his linen garment and scampering off naked into the woods. Og proposes that disciple to be young John Mark himself.
And then at the discovery of the open tomb of Jesus, the women also discover a lone young man sitting there in the empty tomb. Again, Og proposes this, not to be an angel, as quoted in the other Gospels, but Mark. And Mark himself has a very curious ending to his resurrection story, which precedes the piece we just heard in today’s Gospel reading.
The Scripture scholars actually consider the post-resurrection ending of Mark’s Gospel, that we heard today, to be a later addendum to Mark’s original ending.
So, putting it all together, what do we actually know about Mark that might make all of this make a little more sense? Well first, we know that Mark was a cousin to Barnabas who was a companion of St. Paul. Mark accompanied Barnabas and Paul on their first missionary trip to Cyprus and southern Turkey. But Mark was not pleased with something about the arrangement. We might conjecture that there was a personality conflict, or maybe even a fear for his own life, as Paul was quite a zealous and uninhibited evangelist when it came to risk taking. So Mark fled back to Jerusalem to become best buds with Peter who considered him ‘like a son.’ In the meantime, because of Mark, Barnabas and Paul, broke up their association, as well.
Young Mark, though, now had the opportunity to learn even more about Jesus, first-hand from Peter. And some Scripture Scholars actually consider Mark’s Gospel, to be the Gospel of Peter.
So, there we are now, developing this history of flight on the part of Mark. Flight from Paul, and flight from the mob on the Mt of Olives. Flights of fear. Not drastically unlike the cowardice or fear driven flight of the other Apostles.
And yet, in his revelation of the resurrection of Jesus, Mark now has the courage to sit in the empty tomb even at the risk of the Romans discovering him. Mark knew well the fear of the threat of death. And when the women came to the tomb early that morning, according to Mark, they did not obediently, excitedly, “fearful yet overjoyed,” as Matthew tells us, go back to the Apostles and share the good news.
Instead, from Mark’s own past experiences, he tells us, that the women, “seized with trembling and bewilderment,” FLED the scene, and they “said nothing to anyone.” We can only imagine some of the potential consequences, if that were the true end of the story.
Our resurrected Jesus gives us the humble strength to endure, even fear, brothers and sisters. All we need do, as Mark teaches us so well, is TRUST in Him! And then, go out and shout to the world this great love of God for them, for us!
04-24-22 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes
April 24, 2022
(Second Sunday of Easter, C; Divine Mercy Sunday)
John wrote, Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name. Jn_20:19-31
Read and Believe,
and LIVE!
04-23-22 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes
April 23, 2022
As the Eleven were at table, he (Jesus) appeared to them and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had been raised. He said to them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.” Mk_16:9-15
Hey! I had been with you for all these years. Did I teach you to be hard of heart? Did I teach you to live in fear? Did I teach you not to trust anyone? Did I teach you to put masks on your faces because you think you yourselves are so much more pure and holy than anyone else in the world? Open your eyes, beloved and learn to trust, learn to believe, learn to proclaim God’s peace and love and not fear and hatred. Trust in Him!
04-22-22 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes
April 22, 2022
Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, answered them, “Leaders of the people and elders: If we are being examined today about a good deed done to a cripple, namely, by what means he was saved, then all of you and all the people of Israel should know that it was in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead; in his name this man stands before you healed. He is “the stone rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.” There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved.” Acts_4:1-12
No other name!
Jesus is the source and summit of our salvation!
Trust in Him, beloved.
And know that He’ll always be there for you.
______________________________
Birthday blessings to my beloved mom!
04-20-22 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes
April 20, 2022
That very day, the first day of the week, two of Jesus’ disciples were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus, and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred. And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him. Lk_24:13-35
Isn’t that life, beloved! There we are in the midst of our workday, secular activities, whether they be working out as we’d like or not, and we miss Jesus right there, congratulating us, or prodding us with just the answer we were looking for. Or there we are in Church or in our Bible Study group, and with all the commotion of babies crying, boring homilies, routine rites, or difficult to understand Scriptures, and again we’re blinded from seeing Jesus sitting right there next to us. What’s it take, beloved, to recognize him thirty times a day instead of five? To see Him in the answers as well as the questions. To see Him in the dirty street beggar as well as the pious friend. What’s it take to see Jesus in everyone? He’s there! SEEK HIM!
04-19-22 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes
April 19, 2022
Mary Magdalene turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” She thought it was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Jn_20:11-18
Stop holding on, Jesus said. What are we holding on to, beloved, an image, an institution, a relic, a rite, a building, an old tradition? . . . Let it go, let it go, can’t hold (him) back anymore… For, you see, deep inside, the Holy Spirit is within us now! Let the change within us grow ever closer to our Lord and God. Let us find the love that builds and soothes and breaks down all those barriers of hatred and competition and jealousy. The love that unites and elevates and shines like the sun on a world in darkness. He has risen, and we are coming! Alleluia!
04-18-22 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes
April 18, 2022
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce the news to his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them. They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” Mt_28:8-15
Many stories, many versions, but only one, most important Truth. He has risen! And when we get to heaven, beloved, we can ask to see the book that has all the answers to our questions. I think what we’ll find out there and then is that none of those little details, that seem so tremendous now, really matter. All that really matters is the Life, the life of Jesus, the life of us, and the love that encompasses it all!
04-17-22 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes
April 17, 2022
(Easter Sunday, The Resurrection of the Lord)
On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb (of Jesus) early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” . . . So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. When they arrived at the tomb, they saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. They believed that He was gone, but they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead. Jn_20:1-9
All the signs of something other than just a theft of His body were there. The cloths remaining. The body and head wrappings in separate places. The escape without notice of the guards. And then there were all His own predictions before that fateful night. And yet, like everything Jesus said and did, they could not comprehend it’s meaning. But they would in short time. He has risen. And the light of that event would never, ever fade. And it brings us hope. And it brings us reason for life. And it opens our eyes to the Goodness of God, over all the difficulties in life. It gives us purpose! Eternal life with God!
04-16-22 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes
April 16, 2022
(Holy Saturday, Easter Vigil)
In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty wind swept over the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light,”” and there was light. Gn_1:1-2:2
From the opening words of the opening book of the Bible, God reveals His Trinitarian nature: God the Father and creator, the God the Holy Spirit sweeping over the waters in a mighty wind, and God the Word, “God said…,” Jesus, bringing us light from the darkness, order from the chaos and life from the inanimate. And it was all “good!”
And there would be testing, and there would be saving, and there would be forgiving and there would be LOVE. Boundless love, despite our shortcomings, despite our blindness, despite our disobedience. And there would be punishment, and there would be promise for those who listened, for those who kept the covenants made with God.
And then there was that Ark. That structure containing the salvation of humankind. A boat with eight, a box with ten and a woman with One! And again a promise of life. Life by presence, life by obedience, life by belief, by faith. And His name is Jesus. Through the waters of rebirth and the Spirit of life, we are freed from death by sin and given resurrection to eternal life in union with God and one another – For ever!
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_6:3-11
At the empty tomb of Jesus, the angels said to the women, “Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is not here, but he has been raised.” just as He had said! Lk_24:1-12 Are we willing to take that step of faith, of belief, beloved, and then allow ourselves to stop looking for life among the dead and actually live ourselves? Or are we still held back by our own doubt.
This is what it is all about!
Jesus SHOWED us, in real life.
Now it’s up to us to BELIEVE!
04-15-22 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes
April 15, 2022
(Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion)
He was spurned and avoided by people, a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity, one of those from whom people hide their faces, spurned, and we held him in no esteem. Yet it was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that he endured, while we thought of him as stricken, as one smitten by God and afflicted. But he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins; upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we were healed. Is_52:13-53:12
For US, beloved!
No greater love!
Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. After this, aware that everything was now finished, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I thirst.” There was a vessel filled with common wine. So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop and put it up to his mouth. When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.” And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit. Jn_18:1-19:42
But think of this, beloved. The extremity of the suffering that Jesus went through, likely pales in comparison to the suffering we have caused God throughout the ages. From the little sins of deceit and theft to the massive sins of war and and genocide, bigotry and hatred, every one, another nail, another lance into the one who loves us even more. One would think that this Passion of Christ would be enough to give us all pause to think. But then again that’s one of our weak points, not thinking! And every year we remind ourselves once again, through this Passion, of our need to think, if not for the good of the world, for our own salvation. God loves us to such an extreme, that He’ll endlessly give us another chance – until that unknown end actually comes. Maybe tonight beloved. Maybe tomorrow. Are we ready?
04-14-22 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes
April 14, 2022
(Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper, Holy Thursday)
After describing the Passover details to Moses and Aaron: the sacrifice of the lamb, the blood on the doorposts, the meal with unleavened bread and bitter herbs and the salvation of those behind the blood soaked door posts, God said, “This day shall be a memorial feast for you, which all your generations shall celebrate with pilgrimage to the LORD, as a perpetual institution.” Ex_12:1-8,11-14
A PERPETUAL Remembrance!
St. Paul wrote, Brothers and sisters: I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes. 1_Cor_11:23-26
A PERPETUAL Remembrance, in our Sacrament of Holy Eucharist!
Jesus said to His disciples, “Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.” Jn_13:1-15
In all we do, in emulation of Jesus, in compassion for one another and our God, in obedience to His Call, we OFFER love!
Jesus, we remember!
04-13-22 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes
April 13, 2022
The Lord GOD has given me a well-trained tongue, that I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them. Is_50:4-9a
“You are loved!”
“I am with you always!”
04-12-22 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes
April 12, 2022
Reclining at table with his disciples, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified,
“Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” Jn_13:21-33,36-38
Jesus had a lot to be ‘deeply troubled’ about that evening. His beloved disciples would betray Him, abandon Him and deny Him. He would be handed over to deceitful and bloodthirsty men. The crowds whom He taught and tried so hard to convince of God’s great love for them, would all be shouting for His blood. And it all seemed so hopeless. Jesus’s trouble included, of course, His own suffering, but that was not nearly as troubling as the loss of his beloved.
For God, the Prophet Isaiah spoke directly for and to Jesus in saying, “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! It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel; I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” Is_49:1-6
Jesus is OUR light, beloved, and our salvation. And in Him we bring His light to the world. And as He redeems us from the weight of our sin, so we redeem His ‘deep troubles’ at the loss of His beloved by being His faithful, fearless, devoted, persevering and loving believers.
04-11-22 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes
April 11, 2022
(St. Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr)
Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, Upon whom I have put my 
Spirit; he shall bring forth justice to the nations, Not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street. A bruised reed he shall not break, and a smoldering wick he shall not quench, Until he establishes justice on the earth; the coastlands will wait for his teaching. Is_42:1-7
As foretold by the prophets, Jesus is the one who will establish justice on earth. Trust in Him, beloved, just as Mary did in anointing his feet with costly perfume. He speaks only TRUTH and love! Not all did, but Mary trusted and believed! Do we?
04-10-22 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes
April 10, 2022
(Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion)
His disciples brought the colt to Jesus, threw their cloaks over the colt, and helped Jesus to mount. As he rode along, the people were spreading their cloaks on the road; and now as he was approaching the slope of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of his disciples began to praise God aloud with joy for all the mighty deeds they had seen. They proclaimed: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.” Lk_19:28-40
It was the beginning of the end and yet the end which could only lead to a new beginning. The transition would be bumpy, it would be painful, and yet it’s climax would be glorious. The process would be shameful to some, disheartening to others, enlightening to those who knew their Scriptures, and filled with hope for those who believed! Welcome to Holy Week, beloved. Immerse yourselves in the journey and know that it brings to us the greatest gift there ever was or will be. God’s great love for us!
Link to movie “The Greatest Story Ever Told“
04-09-22 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes
April 9, 2022
Caiaphas,who was high priest that year, said to them (the Sanhedrin), “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.” He … prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not only for the nation, but also to gather into one the dispersed children of God. So from that day on they planned to kill him. Jn_11:45-56
The One for the many! Jesus was the sacrificial lamb who would die to save the world! IF we choose to believe!
04-08-22 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes
April 8, 2022
Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John first baptized, and there he remained. Many came to him and said, “John performed no sign, but everything John said about this man was true.” And many there began to believe in him. Jn_10:31-42
We don’t know the numbers, but, of the many who believed for a time, how many turned against Jesus along with the crowd, just a little while later? And how many were devastated when they heard of His execution, the masses we never hear of? Would we, beloved, have been among the crowd followers, or among the steadfast believers? And then when you think about it, what about today? Do we believe everything we hear in the news or from other people? Do we follow the crowd in all the stupid things people do because they believe everything they hear? Or do we have minds of our own to think things out, to read and ponder what the Truth really is, and then act on that Truth instead of following those ignorant crowds? God gave us brains to think with, to evaluate and discern with. And He expects us to learn about Him, to learn about the Truth of life through Jesus. Are we doing that, beloved? Or are we mindlessly just following the crowds. Maybe it’s time for more people to start thinking. Maybe it’s time to start ACTING in love instead of ignorance. We truly can turn this moral compass around beloved, with a little wisdom from the Word of God!
04-07-22 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes
April 7, 2022
(St. John Baptist de la Salle, Priest)
Jesus said to the Jews: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.” Jn_8:51-59
The fountain of youth, a mountain of makeup, diets and exercises all sought or carried out to bring youthfulness, create an appearance of youth or prolong life. Jesus had a much simpler answer: “keep my word!” Love God and one another.
Today Jesus again reveals Himself to the Scribes, the Pharisees and the people in answer to that great question, Who are you? He said, “I am,” just as God answered Moses’ same question. And yet, they just could not accept the Truth. God’s Word had spoken throughout the Pentateuch, creating the universe, giving orders and commandments, coming from the mouths of the Prophets and now from Jesus, God Himself. And yet they still did not listen. It’s easy to see why Jesus was so disheartened with them.
Beyond the miracles, beyond the words, beyond the visible proof, they preferred to “erase” the truth rather than believe it. Do YOU believe, beloved? Is there always just one more excuse? Or are you willing to “keep His word?” Jesus promises eternal life to those who believe! No more makeup, no more searching, no more exercise for the wrong reasons. BELIEVE! And LOVE (even the fool)!
04-06-22 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes
April 6, 2022
Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent his angel to deliver the servants who trusted in him; they disobeyed the royal command and yielded their bodies rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.” Dn_3:14-20,91-92,95
Willingness to sacrifice our own bodies rather than worship any god but the Lord our God! This is the TRUE worship Jesus is looking for in His disciples. How willing are we, beloved? And what are those gods that are pulling us away? Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind and all your soul and all your strength. And He will never leave you!
Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Jn_8:31-42
The FREEDOM of Truth!
04-05-22 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes
April 5, 2022
(St. Vincent Ferrer, Priest)
Jesus said to the unbelievers, “You belong to what is below, I belong to what is above. You belong to this world, but I do not belong to this world. That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins.” Jn_8:21-30
Who do we belong to, beloved, the world or the Lord? Yes, we must, for a time, live in this world. But does it possess us. Are we living for the buck, or for the glory, or for the momentary pleasure that always, ALWAYS, goes away? Or are we living for the Lord? Are we living for the life that will never go away, eternal life, with eternal joy, in heaven, with God our Father, Jesus our brother, and the Holy Spirit our Guide! What possesses us, beloved, sin or Truth, death or Life, bandaids or true healing? As Moses, Joshua and Jesus remind us – Choose Life! Choose Jesus!
04-04-22 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes
April 4, 2022
(St. Isidore, Bishop and Doctor of the Church)
Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Jn_8:12-20
Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side. Ps_23
At our side! In the light! Stay with Jesus!
04-03-22 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes
April 3, 2022
(5th Sunday of Lent, C)
Jesus said to the condemning Scribes and Pharisees, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Jn_8:1-11 They all dropped their weapons and slinked away.
Whom of any of us, beloved, is so pure as to condemn anyone, especially to death? As Jesus said earlier, be sure to take the beam out of your own eye before you attempt to take the splinter from anyone else’s eye. God is the just judge. It is not our place to condemn others for what our own pasts have shown we may have done ourselves. We need to work on ourselves, period! Jesus said, in the end, “Sin no more!” ibid Wise advice!
04-01-22 Catholic Daily Mass Quotes
April 1, 2022
The wicked said among themselves, thinking not aright: “Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, Reproaches us for transgressions of the law and charges us with violations of our training. He professes to have knowledge of God and styles himself a child of the LORD. To us he is the censure of our thoughts; merely to see him is a hardship for us, because his life is not like that of others, and different are his ways. He judges us debased; he holds aloof from our paths as from things impure. He calls blest the destiny of the just and boasts that God is his Father.” Wis_2:1a,12-22
Having “secretly” entered Jerusalem, Jesus began to preach in the Temple. Some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem said, “Is he not the one they are trying to kill? And look, he is speaking openly and they say nothing to him. Could the authorities have realized that he is the Christ? But we know where he is from. When the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.” So Jesus cried out in the temple area as he was teaching and said, “You know me and also know where I am from. Yet I did not come on my own, but the one who sent me, whom you do not know, is true. I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.” Jn_7:1-2,10,25-30
If you ever went through life feeling like you have a target painted on your back; feeling like, no matter what you say or do, there’s always someone who disagrees; feeling a little paranoid about saying anything anymore, or going anywhere in public, then you’re in good company.
Throughout the Gospels, Jesus was threatened with death over and over again. Not only did he have direct enemies in the Pharisees and Scribes, who should have been his number one allies, but even the crowds, in one moment would gather in excitement, and the next, scatter as if they were threatened by a plague. And it was all described in excruciating detail through the Prophets, in the Psalms and in the Wisdom literature of the Old Testament.
Today’s Gospel reading, from John, comes immediately after Jesus’s discourse on the Bread of Life. This was Jesus’ presentation of the consuming of His Body and Blood as the source of our eternal salvation (the Eucharist). And just as, in our teaching of English or Chemistry, we have to get through the nouns and verbs, before we can ever get to the dissection of poetry; and we have to get through the Periodic Table before we ever get to Frontier Molecular Orbital Theory or Stoichiometry: after Moses presented the Jewish people with God’s Ten Commandments – in Life-101, and Jesus presented the Beatitudes in Life-202, with its ‘Labs’ on ‘Water to Wine,’ ‘the Multiplication of Loaves,’ and ‘the ‘Spring of Life,’ otherwise known as the ‘Woman at the Well,’ Jesus was now ready to teach them Life-404 in that Bread of Life Discourse.
And like everything else Jesus taught, there were the ‘staunch believers,’ or at least ‘faithful followers,’ and then there were the ‘obstinate critics or skeptics,’ counting every like and dislike, until their challenge to understand was deeper than their little minds could handle, without Faith.
Despite the threat of death, Jesus, today, ventured to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. Now, Tabernacles, or Sukkoth, was a week-long Jewish Feast celebrating the Fall Harvest. It also commemorated the Israelite’s 40-year journey through the desert of Sinai, in Tents or Tabernacles, under the guidance of God’s Pillars of Cloud and Fire. The cloud and fire were symbolically represented in the feast’s celebration by pouring water from the healing pool of Siloam onto the Temple’s altar, and by the light of torches processed in the temple area. It was one of the Jew’s favorite festivals.
And it was easy to see how Jesus couldn’t resist going Himself, even at the risk of death.
If you ever went through life feeling like you have a target painted on your back, you know that there comes a time, whether it’s an involuntary impulse, or a last-straw explosion, when you just have to defend yourself. Today was our Jesus’s day. ‘You think you know me?’ ‘Well, you don’t have a clue!’ ‘You haven’t even passed Moses’s 101, and you’re judging 505.’
Pretty tough stuff, brothers and sisters. And where does all of that leave us?
Well, we’re left with two simple messages today. #1 – Don’t judge others, and #2 – Have Faith in everything Jesus says and does, even if it might not seem to make any sense.
And in the end, we’ll all have the Eternal Life just as He promised!
And that’s one target we can COUNT on!
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Happy April, beloved!
God’s blessings!
Please come visit March’s Daily Mass Quotes too…
Link below.
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EARLIER MONTH’S QUOTES can be found
in monthly subcategories of – “Whispers“
Link to Previous Month’s Whispers
Link to Next Month’s Whispers
Link back to Whispers to the Wind
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(also in Time page, under Liturgical Seasons section)
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Whispers to the Wind 