Meditation of the Day – Perfection
Minute Meditation – Love Can Transform the World
To live in God’s humble love is to live in attentiveness, openness and relationship: attentiveness to the presence of God in the details of the fragile human person, openness to the ways God is both hidden and revealed in creation, and relationship to the God incarnated in our neighbors, family and community members. In each of these areas we are called to love in a spirit of compassion, forgiveness, tenderness and care. As God bends low to love us where we are, we must be open to welcome God in our lives, to embrace this God of humble love and to allow God to live in us in every way. Every breath of life must be the breath of God.
—from the book The Humility of God: A Franciscan Perspective, by Ilia Delio, OSF
//Franciscan Media//
Saint of the Day – September 18 – Saint Joseph of Cupertino
Saint Joseph of Cupertino’s Story
Joseph of Cupertino is most famous for levitating at prayer. Already as a child, Joseph showed a fondness for prayer. After a short career with the Capuchins, he joined the Conventual Franciscans. Following a brief assignment caring for the friary mule, Joseph began his studies for the priesthood. Though studies were very difficult for him, Joseph gained a great deal of knowledge from prayer. He was ordained in 1628.
Joseph’s tendency to levitate during prayer was sometimes a cross; some people came to see this much as they might have gone to a circus sideshow. Joseph’s gift led him to be humble, patient, and obedient, even though at times he was greatly tempted and felt forsaken by God. He fasted and wore iron chains for much of his life.
The friars transferred Joseph several times for his own good and for the good of the rest of the community. He was reported to and investigated by the Inquisition; the examiners exonerated him.
Joseph was canonized in 1767. In the investigation preceding the canonization, 70 incidents of levitation are recorded.
Reflection
While levitation is an extraordinary sign of holiness, Joseph is also remembered for the ordinary signs he showed. He prayed even in times of inner darkness, and he lived out the Sermon on the Mount. He used his “unique possession”–his free will–to praise God and to serve God’s creation.
Saint Joseph of Cupertino is the Patron Saint of:
Air Travelers
Astronauts
Pilots
//Franciscan Media//
Daily Message from Pope Francis – Listen With a Docile Heart
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2021
“May the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was open to hearing the Word which became flesh in her, help us every day to listen to her Son in the Gospel and to our brothers and sisters with a docile heart, with a patient heart, and with an attentive heart.” Pope Francis
Daily Message from Pope Francis – Growing in Friendship with Jesus
FRIDAY, AUGUST 13, 2021
“May the Virgin Mary, in whom the Word became flesh, help us to grow day after day in friendship with Jesus, the bread of Life.”
Pope Francis
The Bible in a Year – Day 166 – Responding in Faith
Today, we are introduced to the prophet Elijah, who again and again responds to God’s invitations with faith. The readings are 1 Kings 17-18, 2 Chronicles 18-19, and Song of Solomon 5.
Click on link:
https://youtu.be/dAahyYCBKXM
Minute Meditation – When We Cannot Sleep
Sometimes I cannot sleep at night because God is stirring my soul. I have no direct experience of God, but my restlessness and tossing makes me rise and take pen in hand to record my own weakness and God’s great love and kindness. Praise God who acts in our lives when we think it is only our nerves or our inability to unwind and let nature take its course. When we rise and do God’s will, we sleep well the remainder of that time we call the night.
— from the book Song of the Sparrow: New Poems and Meditations by Murray Bodo, OFM
Morning Offering – When You Pray, You Ask for Two Things
“When you pray, you only have to ask for two things: You should ask for the light to see the will of God, and you have to ask for the courage to be able to do the will of God.”
— Venerable Msgr. Aloysius Schwartz
//Catholic Company//
Be Kind
Mass Obligation Resumes on May 23, 2021, Pentecost Sunday
Statement from Bishop Jugis:
The general obligation to attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation in the Diocese of Charlotte, NC, will be reinstated effective on Pentecost Sunday, May 23rd, 2021.