October 25, 2012

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Thursday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 476

Reading 1 From the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians

Eph 3:14-21

Brothers and sisters:
I kneel before the Father,

Brethren, I am praying to God our Heavenly Father,

from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,

Who has given all people the grace of producing children in His name.

that he may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory
to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self,

I am interceding before Him on your behalf, that He may give you grace and power through His Spirit which resides in you.

and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;

So that Christ may abide in you through faith

that you, rooted and grounded in love,
may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones
what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,
so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

In order that you may come to understand that which can barely be understood, how much Christ loves us and fills us with the Fullness of God in His Sacraments.

Now to him who is able to accomplish far more than all we ask or imagine,
by the power at work within us,
to him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus
to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

To the Father, who works within us through the Spirit of love and through the Son,  be glory forever and ever, through the Church in all generations.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 33:1-2, 4-5, 11-12, 18-19

Response. (5b) The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

Exult, you just, in the LORD;
praise from the upright is fitting.
Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;
with the ten stringed lyre chant his praises.

Where ever we turn, we see the goodness of God.  Life being conceived and born.  Love being shared.  Suffering which cleanses us from sin.  The earth is full of the goodness of God:

1 Thessalonians 5:18

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁸ In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

For upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.

 God is love.  His justice is love.  His mercy is love.  Those who suffer in this life, expiate sin:

1 Peter 4:1

King James Version (KJV)

1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;

If only we repent, turn to Him and obey His Commandments:

Exodus 20:6

King James Version (KJV)

⁶ And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

But the plan of the LORD stands forever;
the design of his heart, through all generations.
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.

God is love and His plan is love.  Those who love are the children of God and will share His household forever:

1 John 3:10

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁰ In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
But see, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

Love God with all your heart, mind and soul.  Hope in Him and obey His word.  And you will be saved.

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke

Lk 12:49-53

Jesus said to his disciples:
"I have come to set the earth on fire,
and how I wish it were already blazing!

Christianity is not for the faint of heart.   Our God is a consuming fire!

Matthew 11:12

King James Version (KJV)

¹ And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

There is a baptism with which I must be baptized,
and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!

Christ came to die for our sins on the Cross and He longed to accomplish His Father's will.

Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?
No, I tell you, but rather division.
From now on a household of five will be divided,
three against two and two against three;
a father will be divided against his son
and a son against his father,
a mother against her daughter
and a daughter against her mother,
a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."

 Christ's peace is the most profound that anyone can find.  But those who do not accept Him, do not receive it.  And they are at odds with those of us who do.

Matthew 10:25

King James Version (KJV)

²⁵ It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?

 The world despises Christ.  The world despises His Church. 

Sincerely,

De Maria