Tuesday, October 22, 2024

ST JOHN CAPISTRANO, OFM. GREAT PREACHER.

FEAST OF ST JOHN OF CAPISTRANO, OFM. 

"You will draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation.

God indeed is my savior;

I am confident and unafraid.

My strength and my courage is the LORD, and he has been my savior.

"With joy you will draw water at the fountain of salvation." (CF Isaiah 12: 2 - 3).

I like also the translation below of our key Scripture for today:

"God is my savior;  I will trust him and not be afraid.

The Lord gives me power and strength; he is my savior. As fresh water brings joy to the thirsty, so God's people rejoice when he saves them.”  (Isaiah 12: 2-3 GNT). 


Wednesday 23rd October 2024, 29th Week in Ordinary Time is the feast of St John Capistrano, OFM.  (1386 -1456).


St John Capistrano was an Italian Franciscan Priest. 

St John was a successful lawyer before he became a Franciscan priest. He brought his natural gifts as a lawyer into his preaching ministry and brought about great revivals in various countries of Eastern Europe.


St John Capistrano was one of the few clerics in history who led an army into battle. He did so to defend Europe against the menacing advances of the Turks and died a few years later. 


Our key Scripture for today is from Isaiah 12: 2 - 3. This is one of my favorite Scriptures. 


What do you do when you are afraid of bad news? For example: from your doctor, on your finances and investments, job or your children's safety?  If you have not prepared ahead of time how to react to such dire threats, you may find yourself in great despair and panic.

St Teresa of Avila, Doctor of the Church and great teacher, advices us to be prepared for anything and everything when we wake up in the morning. 

A man of God brought me the gift of our key Scripture when I was in dire circumstances many years ago. 


"With joy you will draw water from the fountains of salvation." 


What does "water" symbolize in the Scriptures? I struggled for years to understand the word I believed and claimed.  Then I came to understand "water"  as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. 


What are you thirsting for today? Jesus helped the Samaritan Woman to develop a thirst for the Big Gift of God. 


"With joy you will draw water from the fountains of salvation." (Isaiah 12: 3).

Water is one of the symbols of the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures. God promises us a big Gift, a wonderful Gift in the Person of the Holy Spirit. 

The Holy Spirit is so unlike anything we know of. This is how Jesus characterizes the Big Gift to the Samaritan Woman:


"Jesus answered and said to her [the Samaritan]  “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4: 13 - 14 ).

Every Christian who has been baptized in the Holy Spirit has testified that the Big Gift of God exceeds all expectations. The Holy Spirit is the source of abundant life. Go for the Big Gift. Be fired up by the Holy Spirit.  


You too with joy you will draw water from the fountains of salvation.  


Those who put their trust in the Lord fear no bad news.  (Cf Psalm 112: 7)


October is the Holy Rosary Month. 

“The Rosary is my favorite prayer. A marvelous prayer!" (St John Paul II). 

For Prayers, Consecration, Litany, Testimony of Jesus about those who pray the Rosary, click the link below:


https://seekfirst.blogspot.com/2023/09/october-devotion-to-holy-rosary.html?m=1

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