Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
The Prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola
“Take, Lord, receive
all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, my whole will,
all that I have and all that I possess.
You gave it all to me, Lord; I give it all back to you.
Do with it as you will, according to your good pleasure.
Give me your love and your grace; for with this I have all that I need."
Today give EVERYTHING to the Lord,
Knowing that the Love and Grace you receive at this Mass
Will be enough for you today.
The Veil. Ex. 34:29-35
When Moses came down the mountain after seeing the Lord;
His face shone so brightly that he put a veil over face;
And he would remove the veil whenever he would speak with the Lord.
There is a veil over our face because of sin;
And we cannot see God clearly.
But on the Last Day,
When Jesus comes in all of His glory;
The veil of our sin will be taken away,
And on that Day,
We will see God Face to Face.
The Feasts of Martha, Mary and Lazarus
Whenever Jesus would go to Jerusalem
He would stay at the house of his friends,
Mary, Martha and Lazarus in Bethany on the Mount of Olives.
It was there that He could relax from the crowds pressing on Him,
And the Pharisees questioning Him.
Just imagine how wonderful it must have been to have Jesus in your house,
sitting at your table eating and talking with you.
We do do not have to imagine,
For we have it even better than Mary, Martha and Lazarus.
For Jesus invites us to HIS table.
And He feeds us with HIS Body and Blood.
So that Jesus is not sitting across the table from us,
Like Mary, Martha and Lazarus,
But through the Eucharist,
Comes to dwell in our hearts and souls.
Waiting on God Ex. 32:15-34
Moses went up Mount Sinai for 40 days and the people waited.
When he did not immediately come down
They turned to another god to help them.
A calf made out of gold.
When God does not respond immediately to our needs
Do we turn to someone or something else?
And when we do;
What does our golden calf do for us?
One person is all it takes Gen. 18:20-32
The world went from the Garden of Eden to Sodom and Gomorrah.
From everything that was Good to everything that was evil.
Sodom and Gomorrah represented every Deadly Sin.
From Pride to Greed to Lust;
To Envy; Gluttony; Anger and Sloth.
What was God to do?
Wipe away the good with the evil?
So Abraham bargained with God that if he could find just 10 good people He would spare the entire city.
For the sake of 10 good people, God would spare thousands of evil ones.
That is how merciful God is!
Sadly Abraham could not find even 10;
So Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire.
Not so much by the fire of God as they were consumed by the fire of their own sins;
Their own lives.
There are Sodom and Gomorrah’s everywhere in the world today.
Cities and people consumed by Pride and Greed and Lust;
Envy; Gluttony; Anger and Sloth.
And God wants to spare them.
God is looking for a few good people to give Him a reason.
We must be that reason!
Saints Joachim and Ann
Joachim and Ann are special people.
They are grandparents.
The grandparents of Jesus.
Joachim and Ann are special people.
They are parents.
The parents of the Virgin Mary.
Joachim and Ann are special people.
They loved Mary with all their heart and soul.
Joachim and Ann never held public office.
They were not considered famous or powerful.
But their lives are forever an example to us.
As how to be grandparents.
How to be parents;
And how to love the Virgin Mary with all our heart and soul.
And if we follow their example
we will be special in the eyes of God!
Feast of Our Lady of the Angels
St. Francis of Assisi came to a place called the Portiuncula where there stood a church of the most Blessed Virgin Mother of God, and When the he saw it was abandoned, he began to repair it.
He Sensed that angels often visited there, from which from it was called Saint Mary of the Angels.
St. Francis loved this place more than other.
for it was here that the Order was founded;
There That he grew in virtue.
And he entrusted it to his brothers at his death
It was not the building that was so special to him,
But who he met there, the Blessed Virgin Mary.
For as St. Bonaventure said,
“It was through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
That Francis received the grace to live the Gospel/“
May Our Lady intercede for us that we too might live the Gospel as did Francis, and send her angels to help us.
The Feast of St. James
Can you drink the chalice?
Everyone wants the consolation of our Faith.
Everyone wants healing and forgiveness and their prayers answered.
Everyone wants to reign with Christ forever in Heaven.
But how many want to drink the cup of His suffering?
This is what Jesus asked James in the Gospel.
And drink of the cup he did.
James was the first Apostle to be martyred
As he was beheaded by Herod.
When the Cup comes to us;
And it will.
Will we drink of it or pass it by?
Jesus prayed “let his cup pass from me; but not my Will but yours be done.”Mt. 26:39
The Cup is never sweet, but doing the Will of God is.
For Those who die with the Lord we shall live with the Lord.
And Those who endure with the Lord, we shall reign with the Lord.
As James does today and forever
The mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. Mt. 13:10-17
The disciples wanted to know why Jesus spoke in parables.
Because God is a Mystery!
Who can understand the mind of God?
Who was there when God separated the light from the dark?
Who was there when God dug out the oceans or built up the mountains?
Who was there when God breathed life into the dust of the earth and made Man?
God is beyond us, and parables help us grasp those mysteries in ways that we can understand.
Because parables have a depth and richness that goes beyond human understanding to the mysteries of God.
Like the Dewfall. Ex. 16:1-15
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The Israelites were hungry and God promised to feed them.
So In the morning there was a Dew that came down and covered the camp.
And when it lifted, there was enough Manna to satisfy everyone.
At Mass, the Holy Spirit comes down upon the gifts of Bread and wine “like the Dewfall”
But the Bread that we eat is the True Bread that comes down from Heaven.
The Bread of Life that satisfies our souls.
And all who eat this Bread will never hunger.Jn. 6:35
St. Mary Magdalene
What gets you out of bed in the morning?
Work?
Errands?
Breakfast?
What got Mary Magdalene up early in the morning
Was to run to the tomb to see Jesus.
It was so early it was still dark.
All Mary could think of early in the morning was Jesus.
She could not stand to be away from Him
So she ran to the tomb.
Is Jesus the first thing we think of in the morning?
Those who go in search of Jesus early in the morning.
While the rest of the world is sleeping
Are the ones who are sure to find Him.
Waiting for them in the Garden.
The Garden of Paradise.
Signs and Faith Mt. 12:38-42
The Scribes and Pharisees were asking for signs.
This is because they did not believe.
Those who have Faith do not need signs.
Instead of asking God for a sign;
Ask God for Faith;
And then you will see!
The better part Lk. 10:38-42
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When Jesus came to their house;
Mary and Martha both had to choose what to do.
It was a difficult decision.
Martha chose to fix dinner.
Mary chose to sit at the feet of Jesus.
Martha chose to feed everyone.
Mary chose to be fed by the Bread of Life Himself.
Mary obviously chose the better part.
Choices can be hard.
They are influenced by our emotions and our intellect.
Our choices have both short term and long term effects.
Every Sunday people have a choice.
To come to church or not.
And many things influence those choices.
Some people may choose to be like Martha
And stay away,
Because there is so much to do.
While others may choose to be like Mary
And come sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to His words;
And be fed by the Bread of Life.
Coming to church is choosing the better part !
There are times when we feel like Martha;
That There is so much to do;
But we must always choose the better part;
We must choose the way of Mary
And sit at the feet of the Lord;
Because Jesus is always the better choice!
