PRAY LIKE JESUS. PRAY LIKE THE SAINTS.

"On leaving the synagogue Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John.

"Simon’s ­mother-in-law lay sick with a fever. They immediately told him about her. He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them.

"When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons. The whole town was gathered at the door. He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him.

"Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed. 

"Simon and those who were with him pursued him and on finding him said, “Everyone is looking for you.”

He told them, “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come.”

So he went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee." (Mark 1: 29 - 39).

Sunday 4th February 2024 of the 5th Week in Ordinary Time. 

Our key Scripture for today reveals something of the habit and prayer life  of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

We know that Jesus taught a great deal about Prayer. He called Prayer a vital necessity. (Cf Luke 18: 1). 

Jesus taught us to pray with expectant faith, with persistence and humility. 

Prayer is key to the life of faith. St Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church says that if you pray, you will be saved. If you do not pray, assume that you may be lost.

"Prayer is the place of refuge for every worry, a foundation for cheerfulness, a source of constant happiness, a protection against sadness." Writes St. John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor of the Church. 

"If you pray well, you live well. If you live well, you die well. If you die well, all is well." (St Augustine. Bishop and Doctor of the Church). 

How is your prayer life? Let us consider 3 points:

#1. Time of Prayer:

 For Jesus, we see that His sacred time for prayer is early in the morning. First thing in the day. Note that it is not when it is convenient. 

#2. Place of Prayer: 

Our Guide to Prayer, Jesus does not pray in the marketplace, Starbucks Café or restaurant. Jesus goes to an isolated place where He can be alone with His Father without distraction and interruption.

#3. Prayer Intention:

 Jesus prays a lot for His ministry and His followers. This is His persistent sacred intention in Prayer. "Father, I pray for those You have given Me..."

We can learn something from the prayer habits of Jesus to bless our prayer life.

This is the habit of Prayer of Saints. If we can pray like Saints, our faith will grow; our mental life will be healthy. We will be able to overcome most of the trials that life hurls at us.

http://seekfirst.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-holy-family-devotion.html

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

FEAST OF STS BLAISE AND ANSGAR, BISHOPS AND MARTYRS.

 FEAST OF STS BLAISE & ANSGAR, BISHOPS & MARTYRS. 

"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.”

"People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat.

"So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place.

"People saw them leaving and many came to know about it. They hastened there on foot from all the towns and arrived at the place before them.

"When Jesus 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).

Saturday February 3rd 2024 in the 4th Week of Ordinary Time is the feast of two Bishops: Saints Blaise and Ansgar. Blaise (+ 316). Armenian. Martyred under Emperor Licinius. Blaise is known for his cures of throat ailments.

St Ansgar: (801 - 865). French. Worked in Germany, Denmark and Sweden. Known as the Apostle of the North for his great success in evangelizing these nations.

What does it mean that Jesus is our Good Shepherd? 

Jesus was moved with pity for the welfare of those who followed Him seeking to hear the word of God.  When we seek Jesus, we shall find Him.  When we knock on His door, He shall open for us.

The wise old man gave this testimony worthy of notice:

"Neither in my youth, nor now in old age have I seen the righteous one abandoned or his offspring begging for bread."  (Psalm 37: 25)

If you follow Jesus, trust Him for your welfare and all your provisions.  Jesus knows your deepest needs.

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).

http://seekfirst.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-holy-family-devotion.html

THE FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD.

THE FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD. 

"When the days were completed for their purification

according to the law of Moses,

Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to Jerusalem

to present him to the Lord,

just as it is written in the law of the Lord,

"Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord,

and to offer the sacrifice of

a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons,

in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord.

"Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon.

This man was righteous and devout,

awaiting the consolation of Israel,

and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit

that he should not see death

before he had seen the Christ of the Lord.

“He came in the Spirit into the temple;

and when the parents brought in the child Jesus

to perform the custom of the law in regard to him,

he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying:

“Now, Master, you may let your servant go

in peace, according to your word,

for my eyes have seen your salvation,

which you prepared in the sight of all the peoples:

a light for revelation to the Gentiles,

and glory for your people Israel.” (Luke 2: 22 - 32).

Friday February 2nd, the Feast of the Presentation of the the Lord.

Forty days after the Nativity of Jesus Christ, Mary and Joseph presented Him in the Temple in obedience of faith. 

Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the holy Prophet Simeon and the Prophetess Anna appeared in the Temple in obedience of faith to bear witness to the faithfulness of God to His promise. 

Brethren, in the celebration of the Presentation of the Lord, let us renew our faith in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar so that we can experience the  transformative encounter with Jesus who is very eager to embrace us with His merciful love. 

FEBRUARY - HOLY FAMILY 

For Devotional prayer and prayer intentions to the Holy Family, click the link below:

http://seekfirst.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-holy-family-devotion.html

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com 

Honor the Sacred Heart of Jesus this Friday.

First Friday in February 2024. 

FEBRUARY 2, 2024. 

Dear friends, what will you do if you know for certain that each of of the 12 Promises of Jesus to the devotees of the Sacred Heart is true?

I will be like the person who wins a lottery.

I will say: Merciful God, thank You. Now I know the secret of living. 

Jesus promised 12 special favors to all those who will honor His Sacred Heart especially on the First Friday of every month. 

HOW: BY ATTENDING MASS AND RECEIVING HOLY COMMUNION.

 

In the 2nd  month of the year 2024, we look at Promise #2.

#2.  "I will give peace in their families."

Peace in the family is the foundation of health and prosperity. Do not doubt this. Moreover, if there is peace in the family, there will be peace at work and school, peace in the nation and peace on earth! 

A family that prays together stays together. 

What is Peace? Peace is the calmness, tranquility, deep security you feel in the depth of your heart, soul and mind because you know that in spite of the apparent turbulence, All is well. 

All is well because Jesus is in control of the world and everything that affects you. You come to appreciate this peace most when civil war is raging in your family, health, finances, job, your possessions and tools. All things  fall apart and the center can no longer hold. Enters the Peace of Christ. 

This is the peace that Jesus promises us today. 

Jesus is our peace. He is the Prince of Peace.  Would you accept today His generous offer of peace in your family? 

Father, in Your will is our peace! 

Honor the Sacred Heart of Jesus this Friday by attending Holy Mass and receiving Holy Communion. 

For the 12 Promises of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Prayers and Prayer Intentions click the link below:

http://seekfirst.blogspot.com/2020/08/12-promises-of-sacred-heart-of-jesus.html?m=1

Daily Bible Verse @ Seekfirstcommunity.com 

TAKE NO BAGGAGE WITH YOU.

TAKE NO BAGGAGE WITH YOU. 

"Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. 

He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick—no food, no sack, no money in their belts.

 They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic. 

He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave from there. 

Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them.”

So they went off and preached repentance. The Twelve drove out many demons, and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them. (Mark 6: 7 - 13).

Thursday February 1st in the 4th Week of Ordinary Time. 

The Gospel of today presents us a challenge to examine our lifestyle to see if clutter and bagages are hindering the penetration of the Good News and make us ineffectual disciples.

 Jesus never teaches a lesson He never lived Himself.  Like the Beatitudes which is a portrait of Himself, the evangelical poverty and simplicity Jesus prescribed to His disciples is what they see every day in His life among them. Jesus practices what He teaches. 

Poverty, disease and ignorance frighten many people. But the fear is altogether irrational if we consider a few salient points:

#1.  Jesus, our Leader and Captain is without doubt the best in our human race. If it is good for Him to be familiar with these human conditions , it should not be so frightening for us.

#2.  God knows exactly what we need and when we need it.  He will always take care of the essentials. 

#3.  Who owns all the gold, silver, diamond, oceans, lands, etc if not our God?  There is a deeper lesson for God to ask us to let go of attachment to all this stuff. 

#4.  God asks:  "Is anything too marvelous for me to do for you?"  (Cf Genesis 18: 14).

Jesus for excellent supernatural reasons "summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits.

He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick—no food, no sack, no money in their belts." (Mark 6: 7 - 8).

Jesus knows that the greatest asset of the disciple is faith and complete trust in Him.  

If a disciple is armed with faith, he needs nothing more. It was therefore necessary to train His disciples at the outset of their ministry in this great truth.

"Fear is useless. All that is needed is Faith."  (Mark 5:  36).

"Christ chose to be born and grow up in the bosom of the holy family of Joseph and Mary. The Church is nothing other than "the family of God." From the beginning, the core of the Church was often constituted by those who had become believers "together with all [their] household." When they were converted, they desired that "their whole household" should also be saved. These families who became believers were islands of Christian life in an unbelieving world." (1655: CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH). 

Consecration of the Family to the Holy FAMILY PRAYER. 

"Lord Jesus Christ, Who, being made subject to Mary and Joseph, hallowed domestic life by Your ineffable virtues; grant that we, with the assistance of both, may be taught by the example of Your holy Family and may attain to its everlasting fellowship; Who lives and reigns world without end. AMEN. "— Roman Missal.

For Devotional prayer and prayer intentions to the Holy Family, click the link below:

http://seekfirst.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-holy-family-devotion.html

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com 

THE HOLY FAMILY DEVOTION.

DEVOTION TO THE HOLY FAMILY. 

FEBRUARY - THE MONTH CONSECRATED TO THE HOLY FAMILY OF JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH. 

"Christ chose to be born and grow up in the bosom of the holy family of Joseph and Mary. The Church is nothing other than "the family of God." From the beginning, the core of the Church was often constituted by those who had become believers "together with all [their] household." When they were converted, they desired that "their whole household" should also be saved. These families who became believers were islands of Christian life in an unbelieving world." (1655 CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH). 

Consecration of the Family to the Holy FAMILY PRAYER. 

"Joseph, hallowed domestic life by Your ineffable virtues; grant that, with the assistance of both, may be taught by the example of Your holy Family and may attain to its everlasting fellowship; Who lives and reigns world without end. AMEN. "— Roman Missal.

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com