A GRAIN OF WHEAT MUST DIE IN ORDER TO BEAR FRUIT.

UNLESS A GRAIN OF WHEAT DIES.. 

"Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.”

"Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 

"Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.

"Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.

“I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it and will glorify it again.” The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder; but others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come for my sake but for yours. 

"Now is the time of judgment on this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” He said this indicating the kind of death he would die." (John 12: 20 - 33).

Sunday March 17th, 5th Sunday is Lent. 

Our key Scripture for the 5th Sunday of Lent poses an existential question to each of us:

Do you want to be a single impotent seed on the shelf or do you trust in Jesus and die to yourself and produce a rich harvest of seeds - thousands upon thousands?

How does the seed produce multitude of seeds? It is buried in the ground. You too must be buried in the ground.

How?

#1. You must embrace the way of Jesus. It is a vital necessity for Jesus to suffer before He inherits His kingdom. (Cf Luke 24: 26).

This is the will of the Father and the way that Jesus embraced. Must it be different for us?

#2. What  obstacles  are preventing you from making a full commitment to Jesus? Career, family, health, finance, etc? Consider who gave you all these gifts in the first place.

#3. We must learn and be strengthened by the examples of the Saints. They are family now enjoying the vision of God in Heaven and continuous beautiful music. Do you know that sweet music is the one thing we have on earth that we will find in Heaven? 

What will happen if you refuse to fall on the ground, die and multiply? You will abide alone. Where? You guess it.

S

FEAST OF ST JOSEPH - TUESDAY, MARCH 19, ss. HONOR ST JOSEPH WITH A HOLY MASS. 

St Joseph is the man chosen by God to be the foster father and guardian of Jesus.

For Prayers and Prayer intentions click the link:

http://seekfirst.blogspot.com/2023/05/devotion-to-st-joseph.html?m=1

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http://seekfirst.blogspot.com

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JEREMIAH, A FIGURE OF JESUS THE PROPHET.

THE PLOT AGAINST THE PROPHET JEREMIAH 

"I knew their plot because the LORD informed me;

at that time you, O LORD, showed me their doings.

Yet I, like a trusting lamb led to slaughter,

had not realized that they were hatching plots against me:

"Let us destroy the tree in its vigor;

let us cut him off from the land of the living,

so that his name will be spoken no more." 

But, you, O LORD of hosts, O just Judge,

searcher of mind and heart,

Let me witness the vengeance you take on them,

for to you I have entrusted my cause! (Jeremiah 11: 18 - 20). 

THE CALL OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. 

"The word of the Lord came to him in the days of Josiah...... 

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

    before you were born I dedicated you,

    a prophet to the nations I appointed you.

“Ah, Lord God!” I said,

    “I do not know how to speak. I am too young!”

But the Lord answered me,

Do not say, “I am too young.”

    To whomever I send you, you shall go;

    whatever I command you, you shall speak.

Do not be afraid of them,

    for I am with you to deliver you—oracle of the Lord.

"Then the Lord extended his hand and touched my mouth, saying to me,

See, I place my words in your mouth!

"Today I appoint you

    over nations and over kingdoms,

To uproot and to tear down,

    to destroy and to demolish,

    to build and to plant.

Then the Lord said to me: You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to carry it out... 

"But you, prepare yourself;

    stand up and tell them

    all that I command you.

Do not be terrified on account of them,

    or I will terrify you before them;

"For I am the one who today

    makes you a fortified city,

A pillar of iron, a wall of bronze,

    against the whole land:

Against Judah’s kings and princes,

    its priests and the people of the land.

They will fight against you, but not prevail over you,

    for I am with you to deliver you—oracle of the Lord." (Jeremiah 11: 18: 20; 1: 1 - 19).

Saturday 16th March 2024 in the 4th Week in Lent.

Our key Scripture for today is from the Call of the Prophet Jeremiah and how quickly his enemies rose up against him to silence him so that he could not say a single word from the Lord.

The Lord God prepared Jeremiah thoroughly for his mission.

What is your vocation and your mission? No matter what your vocation or mission is: Housewife, teacher, priest, politician, banker, nurse, etc we all have the same common Enemy: Satan, the liar and the killer, the intimidator who does not want us to serve God.

We overcome him by:

FEAST OF ST JOSEPH - TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 2024. HONOR ST JOSEPH WITH A HOLY MASS. 

St Joseph is the man chosen by God to be the foster father and guardian of Jesus.

For Prayers and Prayer intentions click the link:

http://seekfirst.blogspot.com/2023/05/devotion-to-st-joseph.html?m=1

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Daily Bible Verse @ 

http://seekfirst.blogspot.com

SeekFirstcommunity.com

THE BROWN SCAPULA OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY IS REAL.

ST CLAUDE DE LA COLUMBIERE AND THE BROWN SCAPULA. 

Claude de la Columbiere, SJ is a faithful, true and credible witness to the authenticity of the Brown Scapula. 

Many of the popes approved and recommended the Brown Scapular. It is remarkable that only 25 years after the Scapular vision, Blessed Pope Gregory X was buried wearing the Scapular. Remarkable also is that when his tomb was opened in 1830, 554 years after his death, his Scapular was found intact.

St. Claude de la Colombiere, renowned Jesuit and spiritual director of St. Margaret Mary, said: "Because all the forms of our love for the Blessed Virgin, all its various modes of expression cannot be equally pleasing to her, and therefore do not assist us in the same degree to Heaven -- I say without a moments hesitation that the Brown Scapular is the most favored of all!" He also adds: "No devotion has been confirmed by more numerous authentic miracles than the Brown Scapular."

The devils even revealed to Ven. Francis of Yepes, brother of the great Carmelite reformer St. John of the Cross, that three things especially tormented them. The first is the Name of Jesus; the second, the name of Mary; and third, the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. "Take off that habit," they cried to him, "which snatches too many souls from us. All those clothed in it die piously and escape us."

We should also give the Scapular to non-Catholics as Our Lady will bring conversions to those who will wear it and say one Hail Mary each day as the following true story reveals: Unconscious and dying, an old man was rushed to the St. Simon Stock Hospital in New York City.

 The nurse, seeing the Brown Scapular on the patient, called the priest. As he was saying the prayers for the dying, the man became conscious and spoke up: "Father, I am not a Catholic." "Then why are you wearing the Brown Scapular?" asked the priest. "I promised my friends to wear it," the patient explained, "and say one Hail Mary a day." "You are dying," the priest told him. "Do you want to become a Catholic?" "All my life I wanted to be one," the gasping man replied. He was baptized, received the last rites and died in peace. Our Lady took another soul under her mantle -- through her Scapular!

"Wear the Scapular devoutly and perseveringly. It is my garment. To be clothed in it means you are continually thinking of me, and I in turn am always thinking of you and helping you to secure eternal life." -- Our Lady of Mount Carmel

From: The Brown Scapula 

https://www.olrl.org/pray/brownscapular.shtml 

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KAIROS TIME - THE APPOINTED TIME.

THEY COULD NOT HARM JESUS BECAUSE HIS HOUR HAS NOT COME. 

"Jesus moved about within Galilee; he did not wish to travel in Judea, because the Jews were trying to kill him. But the Jewish feast of Tabernacles was near.

"But when his brothers had gone up to the feast, he himself also went up, not openly but as it were in secret.

"Some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem said, “Is he not the one they are trying to kill? And look, he is speaking openly and they say nothing to him. Could the authorities have realized that he is the Christ? But we know where he is from. When the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.” 

"So Jesus cried out in the temple area as he was teaching and said, “You know me and also know where I am from. Yet I did not come on my own, but the one who sent me, whom you do not know, is true. I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.” 

So they tried to arrest him, but no one laid a hand upon him, because his hour had not yet come." (John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30).

Friday March 15th 2024 in the 4th Week of Lent. 

"TRUST ME WITH THE TIMING OF ALL THINGS." - JESUS CHRIST. 

"They tried to arrest him, but his hour had not yet come." (Cf John 7: 30).

We reflect today on the Hour of Destiny.

 Jesus refers uncannily to His hour not yet come or His hour that has come. What is this hour that Jesus talks about all the time? 

We know that the biblical concept of time is divided into Chronos time and Kairos time. 

Chronos time from where we get chronology: years, months, weeks, hours, minutes, etc. Is this what Jesus means when He talks of the Hour? For example: Friday. March 15, 2024? 

Or does Jesus allude to Kairos time, which can be interpreted as the hour of grace, the appointed time  set by the Almighty Father for the execution or realization of His plans, purposes, designs and providences.

God’s Kairos hour governs all events in the life of Jesus, viz: Birth, Baptism, Desert Experience, Transfiguration, Last Supper, Passion, Death and Resurrection to mention but the outstanding ones.

 It also governs the major events in our life. Are you impatient that some prayers or expectations of yours have not been fulfilled? Are you in the appointed time? Nothing happens in God's government of the world before the appointed time.

"There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens." (Ecclesiastes 3: 1).

In the fullness of time, Jesus would hand over Himself to be glorified on the Cross. For the Cross is the appointed means of the glorification of the Son of Man. Before that hour, no enemy can harm Jesus.

As followers of Jesus, our lives are hemmed in by God's loving and powerful Providence. If we make the Kingdom of God and His holiness the top priority of our life, God's promise of provision and protection for us will never fail.

"Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory! Now, now – it is the Lord who speaks –come back to me with all your heart, for I am all tenderness and compassion." ( Joel 2: 12 - 13).

FEAST OF ST JOSEPH - TUESDAY MARCH 19, 2024. 

St Joseph is the man chosen by God to be the foster father and guardian of Jesus.

Joseph is a man of high purity and chastity. God chose him to be the husband of Mary because God had fitted him with the appropriate graces to protect the perpetual virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Church considers St Joseph the greatest Saint after the Blessed Virgin Mary. Joseph is so fittingly named the Patron of the Universal Church.  Remember that he was the Guardian of Jesus and in his intercessory role, you can believe that Jesus will deny nothing to Joseph.

For Prayers and Prayer intentions click the link:

http://seekfirst.blogspot.com/2023/05/devotion-to-st-joseph.html?m=1

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Daily Bible Verse @ 

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I WILL BEAR WITNESS TO YOU IN THE WORLD O LORD!

I WILL BEAR WITNESS TO YOU IN THE WORLD. 

"Jesus said to the Jews: “If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is not true. But there is another who ­testifies on my behalf, and I know that the testimony he gives on my behalf is true.

"You sent emissaries to John, and he testified to the truth.

"I do not accept ­human testimony, but I say this so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and for a while you were content to rejoice in his light. But I have testimony greater than John’s. 

"The works that the Father gave me to accomplish, these works that I perform testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. Moreover, the Father who sent me has testified on my behalf. But you have never heard his voice nor seen his form, and you do not have his word remaining in you, because you do not believe in the one whom he has sent.

"You search the Scriptures, because you think you have eternal life through them; even they testify on my behalf. But you do not want to come to me to have life.

“I do not accept human praise; moreover, I know that you do not have the love of God in you. I came in the name of my Father, but you do not accept me; yet if another comes in his own name, you will accept him.

"How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God? Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father: the one who will accuse you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope. For if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me, because he wrote about me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?” (John 5: 31 - 47).

Thursday 14th March 2024 in the 4th Week in Lent. 

The keyword in today's Gospel is TESTIMONY /WITNESS. 

Jesus Christ, the Son of God came to save the world. Jesus was not a low ranger. He had faithful, true and credible witnesses to authenticate that He was what He says He was. The Son of God. 

These are the Witnesses to Jesus:

1. John the Baptist. 

2. The works of Jesus: miracles and teachings. We might add here holy and scandal-free life of Jesus. 

3. Scriptures. 

4. The Father: "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."

How do we bear testimony to Jesus Christ?

Jesus says to us:

"It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you." (John 15: 16).

Our response should be:

"I will bear witness to You in the world O Lord.  I will spread the knowledge of Your name among my brothers and sisters.  (Psalm 17: 50 ; 21:23).

Let us make it an enthusiastic response. 

NOVENA OF ST JOSEPH: MARCH 10 TO 19. 

St Joseph is the man chosen by God to be the foster father and guardian of Jesus.

Joseph is a man of high purity and chastity. God chose him to be the husband of Mary because God had fitted him with the appropriate graces to protect the perpetual virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Church considers St Joseph the greatest Saint after the Blessed Virgin Mary. Joseph is so fittingly named the Patron of the Universal Church.  Remember that he was the Guardian of Jesus and in his intercessory role, you can believe that Jesus will deny nothing to Joseph.

For Prayers and Prayer intentions click the link:

http://seekfirst.blogspot.com/2023/05/devotion-to-st-joseph.html?m=1

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Daily Bible Verse @ 

http://seekfirst.blogspot.com

SeekFirstcommunity.com