word of god

No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 1 John 4:12

- Saint John Eudes

Our wish, our object, our chief preoccupation must be to form Jesus in ourselves, to make his spirit, his devotion, his affections, his desires, and his disposition live and reign there. All our religious exercises should be directed to this end. It is the work which God has given us to do unceasingly.

-- Saint John Eudes

-- Saint Josemaria Escriva

You go to pray; to become a bonfire, a living flame, giving light and heat.

-- Saint Josemaria Escriva

Today's mass reading from the Bible - April/15/2011

FIRST READING: Jeremiah 20: 10 - 13

---

10 For I hear many whispering. Terror is on every side! "Denounce him! Let us denounce him!" say all my familiar friends, watching for my fall. "Perhaps he will be deceived, then we can overcome him, and take our revenge on him."

11 But the LORD is with me as a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble, they will not overcome me. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten.

12 O LORD of hosts, who triest the righteous, who seest the heart and the mind, let me see thy vengeance upon them, for to thee have I committed my cause.

13 Sing to the LORD; praise the LORD! For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hand of evildoers.

PSALM: Psalms 18: 2 - 7

---

2 The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

3 I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.

4 The cords of death encompassed me, the torrents of perdition assailed me;

5 the cords of Sheol entangled me, the snares of death confronted me.

6 In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.

7 Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry.

GOSPEL: John 10: 31 - 42

---

31 The Jews took up stones again to stone him.

32 Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of these do you stone me?"

33 The Jews answered him, "It is not for a good work that we stone you but for blasphemy; because you, being a man, make yourself God."

34 Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, `I said, you are gods'?

35 If he called them gods to whom the word of God came (and scripture cannot be broken),

36 do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, `You are blaspheming,' because I said, `I am the Son of God'?

37 If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me;

38 but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father."

39 Again they tried to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.

40 He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John at first baptized, and there he remained.

41 And many came to him; and they said, "John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true."

42 And many believed in him there.

-- Saint Gemma Galgani

If I saw the gates of Hell open and I stood on the brink of the abyss, I should not despair, I should not lose hope of mercy, because I should trust in You, my God. -- Saint Gemma Galgani

-- Saint Francis of Paola

Be peace-loving. Peace is a precious treasure to be sought with great zeal. You are well aware that our sins arouse God's anger. You must change your life, therefore, so that God in His mercy will pardon you. What we conceal from men is known to God. Be converted, then, with a sincere heart. Live your life that you may receive the blessing of the Lord. Then the peace of God our Father will be with you always. -- Saint Francis of Paola

word of god

"I will praise you, O Lord. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation."

Isaiah 12:1-2