“All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.”
— St. Francis of Assisi
//Catholic Company//
Morning Offering – The Light of a Single Candle
Daily Message from Pope Francis – God’s Grace
SUNDAY, JULY 4, 2021
“Dear brothers and sisters, everything that God’s grace is giving us the joy to experience and share – progress in overcoming divisions, the gradual healing of memory, reconciled and fraternal cooperation – is grounded in the “one baptism for the forgiveness of sins” (Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed). Holy baptism is the primordial divine gift at the basis of all our religious efforts and our commitment to the achievement of full unity.” Pope Francis
Faith – Overcoming Evil
By Harvey Kiekover — Sunday, July 4, 2021
| Scripture Reading: Romans 12:17-21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:21 It began as a peaceful march to protest the brutal killing of George Floyd. But as the darkness deepened, it became a dark night of riotous behavior. Images of angry people smashing store fronts, of police cars ablaze, and of businesses going up in flames brought me to my knees in earnest prayer and disturbed my anxious sleep. What I saw was bad, frightening, evil. In the morning I checked the news. The rioters were gone, but they had left a disturbing mess: smashed windows, burned cars, vile graffiti, sad ruins in the heart of the city. A reporter surveying the damage approached a young mother with two children. He asked, “Why are you here this morning?” She said, “We saw the news; we decided that this city needs someone to show the love of God.” Others were there too—sweeping up the glass shards, trying to restore order to chaos. The mom and her children, who were about 5 and 7 years old, were there with brushes and soap, trying to erase stubborn graffiti. They brought some light into the darkness, some of God’s love into a broken place where the evidence of evil was very real. In that mother and her little ones, I saw the presence of Jesus. She and her children were being the church, Christ’s body—overcoming evil by doing good. As I watched, warm and grateful tears welled up from within me in a prayer of thanks to God. Lord, give us the faith, courage, and strength to overcome evil by doing good in our broken world. Amen. |
//Reframe Ministries//
Daily Reflection – Dream Big!
Minute Meditation – Forgive and Begin to Live
Until we learn to forgive deeply and sincerely, we remain only on the threshold of real union with God, we remain essentially imprisoned and unfree. In the course of a lifetime, we gradually accumulate countless little resentments which, if allowed to grow, become big hates and seemingly insoluble differences. If, however, we do not allow these jealousies and hatreds to grow, but instead try always to purify our hearts, we enter into the mystery of love, the mystery of God. We have so much to forgive: life, maybe, certainly those who have hurt us and even ourselves (perhaps most of all, ourselves). Often we are hardest on ourselves and need to forgive ourselves for failing, for being less perfect than we would like to be. God forgives us much more readily than we forgive ourselves, and this inability to forgive ourselves is the cause of much of our pain and inability to grow. Forgive, then, and we will begin to live.
— from the book Song of the Sparrow: New Poems and Meditations by Murray Bodo, OFM
//Franciscan Media//
Saint of the Day – July 4 – Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati
Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati (1901-1925) was born in Turin, Italy, to a wealthy and prominent family. He was a vibrant, joyful, and athletic youth with an adventurous spirit and a strong zest for life. He loved mountain climbing, the theater, opera, and literature. He also had a deep spiritual life and a strong devotion to the Holy Eucharist and the Virgin Mary, even while his piety provoked criticism from his parents. He challenged his friends to a life of virtue, leading them in spiritual exercises such as daily Mass and the rosary. He joined the St. Vincent de Paul Society in 1918 and became a Lay Dominican in 1922. He was also politically active in resisting fascism and communism; he took part in public demonstrations and joined religious-political organizations such as the Catholic Students Federation and Catholic Action. He also spent much time caring for the sick and poor to a heroic degree, yet his parents punished him when they caught him giving away his money and possessions. While ministering to the sick he contracted polio and died just six days later at the age of 24. His family, thinking he suffered from a mild sickness, did not realize the seriousness of his condition until it was too late. At his funeral his parents were shocked to find thousands of the city’s poor, whom their son had helped in some way, arrive to pay their respects. Pope St. John Paul II called Pier Giorgio Frassati a “man of the beatitudes” at his beatification in 1990. His feast day is July 4th.
//Catholic Company//
Verse of the Day – I am the Way and the Truth and the Life
Morning Offering – We Must Pray Without Ceasing
“We must pray literally without ceasing— without ceasing—in every occurrence and employment of our lives . . . that prayer of the heart which is independent of place or situation, or which is rather a habit of lifting up the heart to God as in a constant communication with Him.”
— St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
//Catholic Company//
Daily Message from Pope Francis – Caring for Others is a Mission
FRIDAY, JULY 2, 2021
“Caring for others is not just a skilled job, but a real mission, which is fully realised when scientific knowledge meets the fullness of humanity and is translated into the tenderness that knows how to approach and take others to heart.”
Pope Francis
Are You Complaining Too Much?
St. Paul tells us, “Do everything without grumbling,” but even the best-intentioned Christians can fall into a toxic habit of constant complaining. It’s true that sometimes, sharing a complaint can help rectify an unjust situation or call attention to something that needs to change. But when you start fixating on the negative things around you and voicing your critiques or grievances about everything in your life, you imprison yourself in your own personal hell.
Today, Fr. Mike encourages us to ask for God’s grace to break free from the habit of complaining.
