The Feast of St Frances Xavier Cabrini, Virgin.

Feast of St Frances Xavier Cabrini, Virgin. 

"Jesus said to his disciples,

“Things that cause sin will inevitably occur, but woe to the one through whom they occur. It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck and he be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. 

"Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.

"And if he wrongs you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times saying, ‘I am sorry,’ you should forgive him.”

And the Apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” The Lord replied, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” (Luke 17: 1 - 6).

Monday 13th November 2023 , 32nd Week in Ordinary Time is the feast of St Frances Xavier Cabrini. (1850 - 1917). Virgin. Italian. Patroness of Immigrants.

Our saint for today overcame the first obstacle to her vocation: fear of drowning.  She founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to serve immigrants in schools, hospitals and parishes in the United States. Before she died in 1917, St Frances Xavier Cabrini had traversed the seas about 30 times planting missionary services to the vulnerable in many countries of the world.

Our key Scripture deals with the all important question of faith.

"And the Apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”

"The Lord replied, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”

"What is faith? It is the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen. It is the certainty that what we hope for is waiting for us, even though we cannot see it up ahead." (Hebrews 11: 1 TLB).

I thank our Lord Jesus for the mustard size faith that He gave me. Because of this small faith, I am who I am today. Everything I enjoy in life such as the Eucharist, Reconciliation, Sunday leisure, even this Blog, etc comes from faith. Faith opens the door to unimaginable blessings. 

In the 11th Chapter of Hebrews, we see the portrait of faith drawn from the key characters of the Hebrew Scriptures. For example: Abraham, David, Elijah, etc. We may add to this list: Mary, John the Baptist, John the Evangelist, Mary Magdalene, Paul, etc. All these people and All the Saints we celebrate in the Roman Missal lived by faith and fulfilled the spiritual law that "the just man shall live by faith." (Cf Habakkuk 2: 4, Romans 1: 17, Galatians 3: 11, Hebrews 10: 38).

How do we get faith?

"So faith comes from hearing, and what is heard comes by the [preaching of the] message concerning Christ." (Romans 10: 17 AMP).

Faith comes too by asking for, pleading, praying for faith like the Apostles: "Lord increase our faith." 

Do you believe the message below?

"God so loved the world that he gave his Only Begotten Son, so that all who believe in him may not perish, but may have eternal life." (John 3: 16). If you believe this Scripture, you have faith. Fan it into flame. 

"Why do you think I have spoken to you so often of My Eucharistic Face? It is because “face” signifies “presence.” The devotion to My Eucharistic Face is the remedy to the loss of faith in My real presence that has swept through My Church at every level, extinguishing the fire of Eucharistic charity and causing even My elect, My priests, to grow cold and distant from Me. This is My word to you tonight and this is why I brought you to this place. Any loneliness you may feel is an invitation to seek Me out in the Sacrament of My divine friendship and to console My Eucharistic Heart." (IN SINU JESU, Sunday, October 19, 2008 Saint Paul of the Cross).

November is the Month we pray for the Souls in PURGATORY. 

“After all—I ask myself—what is Purgatory, actually? ... We see that the word "Purgatory" means "purification," and as all of us are more or less sinners, all of us need being purified of our own sins, faults, and imperfections, in order to be admitted to the enjoy­ment of the possession of the Kingdom of eternal glory.

"We can still realize this purification during this life, if God gives us the time for it: by asking God for forgiveness, with sincere repentance and the resolution to change our life by doing pen­ance, receiving the sacrament of Confession." (Lucia of Fatima on Purgatory). 

For Catholic Church teaching on the Souls in PURGATORY and how to help them, click the link below:

http://seekfirst.blogspot.com/2023/10/10-ways-to-assist-poor-souls-in.html

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com