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Flame of Love

Month: November 2023

Small Matters — November 10, 2023

Small Matters

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Small Matters

Posted byValerie Parisi   EditSmall Matters

Today’s Consuming Fire Meditation- – A Daily Dose of the Flame of Love Diary Served Up with Today’s Scriptures

Memorial of Saint Martin of Tours

Small Matters

You are a small instrument, just like the little match that you hold in your hand. Do not be surprised by what I tell you. With one strike of the match, I will enkindle in millions of souls the Flame of Love of My Mother.” (Jesus) (January 16, 1966 )

Today’s Readings: The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; (Luke 16)

Prayer Meditation- Lord, sometimes You trust us with small matters first. We ask You to use us or to be kind and loving to others and those small opportunities come to us in unexpected ways. The whining child who is on our last nerve but really needs a hug more than anything. The elderly person in front of us in the express check out with twenty items when we are running late. The coworker who needs five minutes of our time because their life is falling apart and they really need to talk but we are on a strict deadline. How many times Lord have we failed in those situations- been impatient, lost our cool, or been too busy. But Lord if we let You use us s in these small matters we can be the spark that enkindles the Flame of Love in the hearts of those around us. Lord help us always be attentive to small matters so that You can then trust us with great ones for Your Glory!

True Prudence —

True Prudence

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True Prudence

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Today’s Consuming Fire Meditation- – A Daily Dose of the Flame of Love Diary Served Up with Today’s Scriptures

Memorial of Saint Leo

True Prudence

“Reach beyond your limits. Look at the Three Wise Men, who made superhuman sacrifice. They left behind their limitations. (Jesus) (January 1, 1981)

Today’s Readings: And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently.
For the children of this world
are more prudent in dealing with their own generation
than the children of light.” (Luke 16)

Prayer Meditation- Lord today we hear a parable about the dishonest steward. He was found out and he proceeded to engage in “damage control” to save his place in society. How often we hear about damage control in the news about companies or government figures. Surprisingly, the dishonest steward is praised by his boss and also by You for his prudence. You tell us through Luke’s Gospel that the children of the world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than the children of light. I believe You are showing us that we are to engage in our own form of “damage control” but not as the world would have it but by bringing You a truly contrite and humble heart- to confess our sins and to make reparation by our prayers and sacrifices. To not stay lukewarm to but reach beyond our limits as we offer love for the Love that never lets us go and never lets us down! So let us be creative in our Christian walk in our self- offering to You and others because we will never outdo You in generosity!

Streams of Living Water — November 8, 2023

Streams of Living Water

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Streams of Living Water

Posted byValerie Parisi   EditStreams of Living Water

Today’s Consuming Fire Meditation- – A Daily Dose of the Flame of Love Diary Served Up with Today’s Scriptures

Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome

Streams of Living Water

This stream of water is My grace which purifies, which destroys when need be, or saves and gives life. It must run because God wills it. (Jesus) (June 15, 1964)

Today’s Readings: There is a stream whose runlets gladden the city of God,
the holy dwelling of the Most -High.
God is in its midst; it shall not be disturbed;
God will help it at the break of dawn. (Psalm 46)

Prayer Meditation- Lord today we honor the Lateran Basilica, a symbol of The Church as Mother and Bride. We read in the first reading from Ezekiel today about the water flowing from every side, watering the river bank resulting in fresh fruit that serves for both food and medicine for our souls. This river, this living water is the Sacraments. The Blood and Water which flowed from Your Pierced Side, Your living water purifies, destroys when need be, and saves and gives life. Lord, keep us close to Your Bride, The Church and to fill us with Your Living Water that we may never thirst again! (John 4).

Renounce What? — November 7, 2023

Renounce What?

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Renounce What?

Posted byValerie Parisi   EditRenounce What?

Today’s Consuming Fire Meditation- – A Daily Dose of the Flame of Love Diary Served Up with Today’s Scriptures

Wednesday of the Thirty First Week of Ordinary Time

Renounce What?

Yet Our Lord kept urging me, “Renounce yourself completely.” (Elizabeth/Jesus) (1961-1962)

In the same way,
every one of you who does not renounce all his possessions
cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14)

Prayer Meditation- Lord today we read the terms of discipleship in today’s Gospel. On the surface, especially to our modern ears, it seem rather harsh. Hate our families? Count the cost because we might not have what it takes? Renounce all possessions? Really who does this? But Lord as we meditate on Your life and Your Passion we see Your total self -emptying so that we can be free from sin and death. And we can look to the Blessed Mother and to the lives of the saints. So yes, there are people, our brothers and sisters in faith, who did live lives of renunciation. But really Lord, what does this look like- I believe the key is trust and surrender. Nothing must come before You- we are to be free from all attachments but we cannot free ourselves. Only You can set us free. So, Lord we bring ourselves to You empty handed- putting first the Kingdom of God because all the things we truly need will be given us besides (Matthew 6:24-34). So let us not worry or feel discouraged because You want us to succeed in our spiritual lives more than we do! Jesus we trust in You!

Rejoicing and Weeping —

Rejoicing and Weeping

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Rejoicing And Weeping

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Today’s Consuming Fire Meditation- – A Daily Dose of the Flame of Love Diary Served Up with Today’s Scriptures

Tuesday of the Thirty First Week of Ordinary Time

Rejoicing and Weeping

“I am grateful to you because your heart suffers with Me, and beats in Me. I was alone and since you were not coming, I came to you. I rejoice to be with you. I am grateful for the number of times you think about Me.” (Jesus) (March 4-7 1962)

Today’s Readings: Rejoice with those who rejoice,
weep with those who weep. (Romans 12)

Prayer Meditation- Lord, the Christian life is one of unity. We are part of You, our Head, and part of Your Mystical Body. That includes those here in the Church Militant as well as in Purgatory in the Church Suffering and in Heaven in the Church Triumphant. At any given time, members will be rejoicing and members will be weeping. Because we are united to Your Sacred Heart, we are able to love others with Your Love. This verse has always been one of my favorite in describing Christian life- if we rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep we are truly accompanying others making it much harder to be judgmental or indifferent. Lord, help us to console Your Sacred Heart by consoling others that Your love would reach all who are dear to You.

The Gift And Call Of The Lord — November 5, 2023

The Gift And Call Of The Lord

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The Gift And Call Of The Lord

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Today’s Consuming Fire Meditation- – A Daily Dose of the Flame of Love Diary Served Up with Today’s Scriptures

Monday of the Thirty First Week of Ordinary Time

The Gift and Call of The Lord

Elizabeth accepted the call: I tried with all my strength. Afterward, everything fell into place drawing me closer to Him. He kept urging me. (Elizabeth) (1961-1962)

Today’s Readings: Brothers and sisters:
The gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.

Just as you once disobeyed God
but have now received mercy
because of their disobedience,
so they have now disobeyed in order that,
by virtue of the mercy shown to you,
they too may now receive mercy.
For God delivered all to disobedience,
that he might have mercy upon all. (Romans 11)

Prayer Meditation- Lord, we all have a call on our life- a call that is irrevocable. You do not revoke Your gifts and Your love from us ever but in Your Mercy You keep calling us to follow You. It is we who do not listen- we drown out Your gentle voice with all the noise in our lives. Yet Lord, no matter how far we have strayed from Your dream for our lives, like the prodigal son, You are always ready to welcome us home! Let us reflect today on the gift and call on each one of our lives- when have we heard or felt it, when have we run away from it, and how have You showed us mercy as we return to You with a humble and contrite heart. Lord may we all know that You have a plan for our lives and that You never give up on us while we have breath!

In You Lord I Have Found My Peace — November 4, 2023

In You Lord I Have Found My Peace

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In You Lord I Have Found My Peace

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Today’s Consuming Fire Meditation- – A Daily Dose of the Flame of Love Diary Served Up with Today’s Scriptures

Thirty First Sunday of Ordinary Time

In You Lord I Have Found My Peace

The Lord Jesus did not speak, but He inundated my soul with the sublime feeling of His presence. Without any words, He poured into my consciousness a feeling of peace: it has been a long time since I surrendered completely to Him.(November 11, 1962)

Today’s Readings: O LORD, my heart is not proud,
nor are my eyes haughty;
I busy not myself with great things,
nor with things too sublime for me.
R. In you, Lord, I have found my peace.
Nay rather, I have stilled and quieted
my soul like a weaned child.
Like a weaned child on its mother’s lap,
so is my soul within me. (Psalm 131)

Prayer Meditation: O Lord today’s first reading and Gospel refer to people who are a big deal- perhaps too big for their britches. The ones who exalt themselves and need to be humbled. And let’s not kid ourselves, it is not just religious leaders or people we see in the media, many times that is us because we forget You are God and we are not. But then we have in the middle this gem of a psalm- about the little souls who are not proud and who are not busy with things too great for them. The childlike who sit on Your Lap like a weaned child- who are not anxious and worried (Luke 10) about anything because they trust in You Lord and Our Blessed Mother. When we have lack of peace and find ourselves too much on our own minds we can always come back to that place of childlike abandonment, even if it has been a long time since we surrendered completely to You if ever. You are waiting to pour out Your Peace into our souls but You can’t if we are too full of ourselves. Lord we are nothing  but You are all so come Lord Jesus into our hearts and souls in unison and harmony, fused in Your Will and in Your Love because Youi have hidden Yourself from the wise and revealed Yourself to little ones (Matthew 11).

God’s Seating Chart — November 3, 2023

God’s Seating Chart

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God’s Seating Chart

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Today’s Consuming Fire Meditation- – A Daily Dose of the Flame of Love Diary Served Up with Today’s Scriptures

Memorial of St. Charles Borromeo

God’s Seating Chart

I know, I see your thoughts, your efforts, by which you want to satisfy My Divine Request and Will. This is enough for Me. I never seek results from you, Elizabeth. I tell you this so you are humbled. In these days and in these difficult times, you have a need for greater and more frequent humiliations. I know this. Therefore, I send you everything to bathe your soul in humiliation because without it, I could not guarantee the purity of your soul.” (Jesus) (March 16, 1966)

Today’s Readings: Rather, when you are invited, 
go and take the lowest place
so that when the host comes to you he may say,
‘My friend, move up to a higher position.’
Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table.
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,
but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 14)

Prayer Meditation- Lord we thank You and praise You for today’s Gospel! In it is the great parable about always seeking the lowest place. Typically, we do quite the opposite- when we want to attend a concert or sporting event we concern ourselves with the seating chart. Will be close up or in the cheap seats? There are whole industries supported by the need to sit in the front row with ridiculous sums of money paid. Everyone wants the place of honor but in God’s economy it is quite the opposite. In Rediscovering Jesus, Matthew Kelly writes about Jesus Airlines, where the “common folks” are seated in first class. Quite the opposite of the world. Lord help us to die to our flesh and the need to exalt ourselves and let us always seek the lowest place, knowing that you will exalt us if it is Your Will. Let us accept all humiliations as a form of purification of our souls, not in Purgatory, but here on Earth so that Your Divine Will would reign in us! And let us remain confident that in Heaven Your Seating Chart will place us exactly where You have meant for us to be from all Eternity if we cooperate with Your Grace right here right now!

Best Of Wheat — November 2, 2023

Best Of Wheat

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Best Of Wheat

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Today’s Consuming Fire Meditation- – A Daily Dose of the Flame of Love Diary Served Up with Today’s Scriptures

Friday of the Thirtieth Week of Ordinary Time

Best of Wheat

Your bad temper will go on, but out of this evil nature, I will accomplish a masterpiece if you agree to submit to My Divine Hand. Simply surrender to Me like the wine grapes that are pressed and transformed into wine, which will become My Precious Blood. You also will be intoxicated with My Precious Blood, but only if you are transformed and purified, just like the must, or like the wheat transformed in My Sacred Body, once it has been ground. You also will transform yourself only once you have been ground down and your miserable nature divinized. (Jesus) (September 14, 1963)

Today’s Readings: He has granted peace in your borders;
with the best of wheat he fills you.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word! (Psalm 147)

Prayer Meditation- Lord, you feed us with the finest wheat- the wheat of Your Word and of Your Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. But are we disposed to receive You? Because You have told us that unless a grain of wheat (John 12:24) falls into the ground and dies it is just a grain of wheat. But You want to transform us so that we can bear fruit that will last. We cannot do that if we are holding onto our own wills- our bad tempers, our anxiety, our complaining, our negativity, our sins. Lord help us each day to die to ourselves so that it is not us who live but You who live in us (Galatians 2:20)-we will only be transformed when we have been purified of what does not belong to You!

Grace And Mercy Are With His Holy Ones — November 1, 2023

Grace And Mercy Are With His Holy Ones

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Grace and Mercy Are With His Holy Ones

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Today’s Consuming Fire Meditation- – A Daily Dose of the Flame of Love Diary Served Up with Today’s Scriptures

The Commemoration of All The Faithful Departed

Grace and Mercy Are With His Holy Ones

“Let all your actions be done with the purpose of helping them in union with Me, desire that these souls contemplate My face as early as possible. Offer for them the strict fast as well as prayer during a part of the night.” (Jesus) (April 10, 1962)

Today’s Readings: Those who trust in him shall understand truth,
and the faithful shall abide with him in love:
because grace and mercy are with his holy ones,
and his care is with his elect. (Wisdom 3)

Prayer Meditation- Lord today we remember all the faithful departed including those who are part of the Church Suffering. Because we cannot yet enter Heaven with “baggage” on our souls. The baggage as the Church teaches is the effect of forgiven sins and remaining venial sins and faults. Do we hold onto anger, unforgiveness, negativity, over attachment to the goods of this world, selfishness? If we can’t leave it behind, it will have to be burned away in that place of Your Mercy so that we are perfected in love. Perfect love drives out fear (1 John 4:18). Lord, Your will is that we become Your kind of perfect- not what the world calls perfect. And as St. Therese has taught us You can purify us in an instant- but we have to be open to grace. How many of us just get stuck and lack the love and trust to turn to You in total childlike dependence? Lord today, let us especially examine ourselves to see where we can be perfected in love and let us pray and sacrifice for the faithful departed including our deceased family members and friends offering them the charity we lacked when they were among us. Because we are all one Church and we will abide with You in love because grace and mercy are with Your holy ones and Jesus we trust in You!