Come away and have some rest.

"The apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.”..... When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things." (Mark 6: 30 - 34).

Sunday 18th July 2021, in the 16th Week in Ordinary Time.

What does it mean that Jesus is our Good Shepherd? The Good Shepherd is the theme of the Scriptures this Sunday. Anyone who cannot describe one or more Bad Shepherd experience in his life is lucky. We see bad shepherds in the family, classroom, government, workplace, church, etc.

“Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” This is one of the most endearing statements of Jesus for me in the entire Gospel. Our Responsorial Psalm 23 has brought healing and comfort to many people. Not just Christians. Non-Christians as well. It is believed that this great Psalm came from David's personal experience of God in his life struggles.

Jesus the Good Shepherd is still with us today. It is in the Eucharist that we experience everything that the Good Shepherd offers.  Jesus says to a mystic:
"Do not the sheep follow the shepherd? Where are the green pastures prophesied by the psalmist king, if not in My Eucharistic presence?" (IN SINU JESU page 55).

Daily Bible Verse @ Seekfirst.blogspot.com

Jesus hides from those who want to kill Him.

"Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight; I shall place my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not contend or cry out, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory. And in his name the Gentiles will hope." (Matthew 12: 18 - 21).

Saturday 17th July 2021, in the 15th Week in Ordinary. There is no feast in the Liturgical Calendar. Let us celebrate the memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Matthew tells us in the Gospel for today that  "The Pharisees went out and took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. When Jesus realized this, he withdrew from that place." At the end of today's Gospel, we are given the character profile of the Man the Pharisees are clamoring to kill. He never contended or raised His voice in the streets.  "A bruised reed he will not break, a smoldering wick he will not quench." What does this all mean? Jesus is not a common criminal. At His trial before Pontius Pilate, the Roman Procurator said three times:  'I found no fault in this Man." Jesus is innocent of any fault.

In the Plan of God, Jesus must die so that you and I must live.

"I have chosen to communicate My light to your soul by making it pass through the pure and sinless Heart and hands of My Immaculate Mother. The more you turn to her, the more you remain confident and childlike beneath her gaze of maternal love, the more will you be changed from one degree of glory to another. This is My Mother’s work in the souls of priests, and the work of the Holy Spirit who touches souls by means of her hands." IN SINU JESU page 65).

Daily Bible Verse @ Seekfirst.blogspot.com

The Feast of Our Lady of Carmel.

“See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath.” (Matthew 12: 2).

Friday 16th July 2021, in the 15th Week in Ordinary is the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

What words do we associate with Mount Carmel? The Prophet Elijah, the Carmelite Order, St. Simon Stock.
On July 16, 1251 the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to St Simon Stock, the Superior General of the Carmelites in England and gave him the brown scapula. Mary promised her protection to all those who wear the scapula. This is the origin of the devotion of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the Brown Scapula. The brown scapula is one of the numerous sacramentals of the Church.

In our Gospel Reading for today, Jesus said something that must have astonished His Jewish audience:
"I say to you, something greater than the temple is here."  (Matthew 12: 6).  And He added:
"For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.”  (Matthew 12: 8).

The Sabbath is a sacred Covenant between God and His people.  "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy" (Exodus 20: 8). And then the Lord blessed the Sabbath Rest.

How the Sabbath is to be observed became a sore point of controversy between Jesus and the Jewish leaders.  The Pharisees wanted a strict adherence to the Sabbath code. Jesus teaches God's intention in establishing the Sabbath.  God gave the Sabbath both for rest and worship. The Pharisees had lost sight of this two fold objectives. The One who made the laws in the first place quickly asserted His authority over the Sabbath.

"Sunday is the day of My holy and glorious resurrection," says Jesus to the mystic. "I will open your eyes to the vision of My Father and draw you with Me into His embrace. Be mindful on Sundays of the labours of your brothers in the sacred ministry. Seek for them spiritual refreshment and energy in My Eucharistic presence. Sunday evening through Monday, you will do well to recall the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, for that is the third gift and mystery of the cenacle." (IN SINU JESU page 81).

Daily Bible Verse @ Seekfirst.blogspot.com

Feast of St Bonaventure, the Seraphic Doctor.

"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.” (Matthew 11: 28 - 30).

Thursday 15th July 2021, 15th Week in Ordinary Time is the feast of St Bonaventure (1221 - 1274). Italian. Franciscan, Bishop, Cardinal and Doctor of the Church. Bonaventure is known as the Seraphic Doctor because of his mastery of mystical theology. He became friends with St Thomas Aquinas, another doctor of the Church in the University of Paris.

Who is Jesus especially inviting to come to Him in our key Scripture?
The burdened who labor under yoke. The meek and the humble who desperately are looking for some resting place from their hard labors.

Our saint of today, St Bonaventure will fall into this class. Although Superior General of the Franciscans for 17 years, Cardinal of the Church, eminent Theologian and Professor of Theology at the University of Paris and one of the 35 Doctors of the Church, Bonaventure is childlike in character. He is meek and humble. This is why he heard the invitation of Jesus and answered Him.

Spiritual writers affirm again and again that we receive nothing from God unless we come to Him in trust, broken and remain steadfast in waiting for Him.
The way to the Heart of Jesus is Trust and Obey. Not confidence in our filthy works or in our strength.

This is why Jesus gives us the Sacraments of the Eucharist and Reconciliation so that we can come to Him easily at all times.

May we all benefit from the wisdom and simplicity of St Bonaventure whom we honor today.
"I am glorified when you honor my saints." Lord Jesus remember us who delight in honoring your saints.

"This is why it so grieves Me" , said Jesus to a mystic, "that churches are locked and that I am left for days on end alone in the tabernacle. I would draw souls to My open Heart, I would have them experience what it is to abide in the radiance of My Eucharistic Face, I would give Myself in intimate friendship to souls drawn to Me in the Sacrament of My love, but you priests, shepherds of souls, have forgotten that keeping open your churches is integral to your sacred ministry." (IN SINU JESU page 54).

Daily Bible Verse @ Seekfirst.blogspot.com

Feast of St Kateri Tekewitha, the Lily of the Mohawks.

"At that time Jesus exclaimed: “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will." (Matthew 11: 25 - 26).

Wednesday 14th July 2021, 15th Week in Ordinary Time is the feast of St Kateri Tekakwita (1656 - 1680). Born near New York. Daughter of a Mohawk chief. Kateri died at the age of 24. She had great devotion to the Eucharist and Jesus Crucified. She is known as the "Lily of the Mohawks" and is the patron saint of ecologists, environmentalists, and Native Americans.

Our key Scripture today fits St Kateri as hand in glove. God in His merciful and powerful Providence chooses the weak to accomplish great things. He chose Mary, the 14 year old Virgin of Nazareth to be the Mother of the Son. He chose Saints Catherine of Siena and Therese, the Little Flower and revealed to them the mysteries of the Kingdom of God. He called and chose St Maria Faustina and revealed to her the secrets of the Divine Mercy.

In the first Reading for today, Exodus 3: 1 - 12, God called and chose Moses, a retired shepherd of 80 years to play a central role in the Exodus, the type and shadow of our liberation from the shackles of the slavery of sin.

The Church is today at the crossroads with cultures all over the world. Who is the new Moses? Who is the new Catherine of Siena? Might it be you?

When Moses hesitated at the invitation of God to lead the People of Israel to freedom, God said: "I will be with you." That is all I need to hear. Do you need more?

"It is the little and the poor who come to Me in the Sacrament of My love and who console My Heart by their presence to Me. It has always been so. The proud and the worldly have no time for Me, because I am hidden, because I am poor, because I am silent, in the Sacrament of My love. But those who are themselves humble and poor are drawn to the humility and the poverty of My Eucharistic presence. I welcome them. I take comfort in their presence, and I recognize them as those blessed of My Father to whom belongs already the Kingdom of Heaven." (IN SINU JESU page 229).

Daily Bible Verse @ Seekfirst.blogspot.com

Feast of St Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor.

"Jesus began to reproach the towns where most of his mighty deeds had been done, since they had not repented. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes." (Matthew 11: 20 - 21).

Tuesday 13th July 2021, in the 15th Week in Ordinary Time is also the feast of St Henry II. (973 - 1024). German. Crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 1014 by Pope Benedict VIII as Emperor Henry II. He was a powerful man of the world, a man of war and international politics. He became a saint.  It shows that anyone can become a saint. Henry used his wealth and power to promote the Kingdom of God by supporting missionary work. In spite of his cares of the earthly Roman Empire, his gaze was on Heaven, the eternal Kingdom.

In our key Scripture for today, Jesus taught that those who have received more are expected to give more. Chorazin and Bethsaida received more of Jesus teaching and miracles but both cities were obstinate when it comes to belief and repentance. Henry received the Good News of salvation from his mother. He turned his heart and mind to Jesus and became a great saint.

Why was Jesus stern in His reproach of Chorazin and Bethsaida?
Both cities saw many miracles and heard countless sermons of Jesus. They locked up their hearts in unbelief. Unbelief is very dangerous. Look around the socioeconomic landscape today and see for yourself what unbelief can produce. Where there is unbelief, there can be no repentance. Robbers who are caught red-handed in their crimes have sworn that they are innocent.

We are Chorazin. We are Bethsaida. Let us come before Jesus with humility and have our sins washed away in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The merciful love of Jesus is waiting to give us a new mind and a new heart.

"If souls understood what treasures of love are freely given to those who approach Me in the Sacrament of My love, My churches would be filled day and night, and unable to contain the multitudes drawn to them. But the Evil One has schemed and plotted to cover the mystery of My presence with a dark veil of neglect, of irreverence, of forgetfulness, and of unbelief. He has obscured the mystery of My real presence, and so My faithful, beginning with My priests, have walked away from Me, one after the other, even as they did when first I spoke plainly of Myself as the living Bread come down from heaven to give life to the world." (IN SINU JESU page 226).

"If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts."

Daily Bible Verse @ Seekfirst.blogspot.com

Whom do you love more, your son or Jesus?

“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." (Matthew 10: 37 - 39).

Monday 12th July 2021, in the 15th Week in Ordinary Time.

What strikes you from our key Scripture for today from Matthew 10: 37 - 39?
There are No Half Measures in the words of Jesus!! Jesus did not say:
It is OK if you love your father or mother 50% and love Me Jesus 50%. It is OK when you pick up your cross whenever you feel like and follow Me.
Everything He says is absolute. If you follow me, it has to be fully if you want to reap the benefits.

Do you now understand why Christianity does not work for many? In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says:
"First and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right—the attitude and character of God], and all these things will be given to you also." (Matthew 6: 33 AMP).

If you desire all your needs to be met, you understand what to do. You must make God's business your top priority. Jesus said to St Catherine of Siena, mystic and Doctor of the Church: 'My daughter, if you think of my business first, I will think of yours first."

I have been beating about the bush in do-it-your-own way Christianity. I had not experienced the promised answers to prayers. Since I started following the way of Jesus, things have brightened up for me a lot.

Thank You Jesus for the promise below.
"My Heart is open to your prayers and I receive them with favour because it is I who inspire you to speak to Me in this way. This is the secret of prayer pleasing to My Heart: it rises out of a grace that I have already planted in the soul, even before you come into My presence, even before you open your mouth, or take up your pen, or begin to formulate words. These are the prayers that I answer most readily; these are the prayers that I answer unfailingly, because they are the fruit of the work of the Holy Spirit in the soul, teaching the soul to pray in perfect harmony with the desires and designs of My own Sacred Heart." (IN SINU JESU page 120).

Daily Bible Verse @ Seekfirst.blogspot.com