In today’s first reading, St. Paul lauds the churches in Macedonia for their “profound poverty” …. Because it causes them to “overflow in a wealth of generosity on their part.”
Pope Francis said when he became Pope, “I want a poor church”
Poor so that we can be rich in what counts!
“Now is the day of salvation”
Our readings today are about — seeds that grow, flowers that blossom, trees that sprout up — they are about life! They are also about faith
I got to thinking: where are those places that my faith has come most to life?
Heaven and earth, the Celtic saying goes, are only three feet apart, but in thin places that distance is even shorter.
Where are those “thin places” in your life?
I can name some: St Meinrad, the adoration chapel, my home parish, being out in nature….
2 Corinthians talks about the veil….but there are some places where the veil is THIN…..
The Irish spiritual writer John O’Donohue wrote movingly of thin places, those times or locations where our mind and heart seem to cross an invisible barrier, and we stand for a few moments in the presence of something ethereal, something transcendent. We feel, for a moment, that we are not quite “here” but “there”
There are no words for those sorts of moments.
Do we go to those places??????
And here’s another thing: There are thin places, but there are also thin people….
People who, when we’re around them, transport us to heaven
People who help us feel alive and loved and closer to God….a holy fraternity, a good friend, a retreat,
Three questions I’ll leave you with:
What are the “thin places” in your life?? Are you going to them?
Who are the “thin people” in your life? Are you ging to them?
Are you being a “thin person” for others????
Our Lady assured Blessed Lúcia: “My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God.” Thus, if we devote ourselves to her Immaculate Heart, Mary will lead us to her Son, Jesus Christ and we will be on the way to Heaven. “
There is in the Sacred Heart the symbol and express image of the infinite love of Jesus Christ which moves us to love in return. -Pope Leo XIII
From a homily on Joshua by Origen, priest
Once Jericho was surrounded it had to be stormed. How then was Jericho stormed? No sword was drawn against it, no battering ram was aimed at it, no javelins were hurled. The priests merely sounded their trumpets, and the walls of Jericho collapsed. In the Scriptures Jericho is often represented as an image of the world…..
From today’s second reading in Matins, but Origen, priest: “But once you come to the baptismal font and, in the presence of the priests and deacons, are initiated into those sacred and august mysteries which only those know who should, then, through the ministry of the priests, you will cross the Jordan and enter the promised land. There Moses will hand you over to Jesus, and He himself will be your guide on your new journey.”
