Inspired by praying with various prayer apps including the Ascension app and the Hallow app as well as really hearing Our Lord call me deeper into scripture so I can clearly hear His Voice, each morning I will post a verse from the Daily Readings with a short reflection/meditation and resolution to make the Word of God real in our daily lives! As a Benedictine Oblate, I have loved moving deeper and deeper into His Word so I can know His Will and live in His love and spread that love to others! I am praying these little reflections will bless your day!
Today’s Consuming Fire Meditation- – A Daily Dose of the Flame of Love Diary Served Up with Today’s Scriptures
Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time
If You Wish
“My Lord and my God, without You, I am nothing. My soul is willing but my body, You know, My Lord, is weak. Here on earth, there are two ‘I’ within me like two eternal and inseparable enemies. My soul and my heart accept it, but they get irritated against the darkened side of my weak will and mind. I renew my offering, sweet Jesus. I am Yours, dispose of me as You wish. In no way, do I want to oppose You because I love You ardently. Clothe me in Your power, so I can fulfill Your request (Elizabeth May 4, 1962)
Today’s Readings: A leper came to Jesus and kneeling down begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.” (Mark 1)
Prayer Meditation: O Lord we praise You, we thank You and we bless You because You do will that we be made clean. That we be healed. O Lord, there are all kinds of leprosy these days. We have all lived through a pandemic and the isolation that came from that period. There are those with terminal and serious diseases, for example cancer, which can be isolating due to immune compromise separating those patients like lepers from community.. There is emotional leprosy, those with mental health issues and depression which runs rampant these days and again, many of these folks are so isolated and alone. There is spiritual leprosy- sin and all of its effects. Lord Jesus, we all know You want us healed of all of these things. But we also know it is not often on our timetables for ourselves or our family members and as Elizabeth describes above in the midst of our suffering we can feel so weak- our spirit is willing Lord but our flesh is so weak! (Matthew 26:40-43). And we wonder if You see us, even though we know You are moved with pity (Mark 1). Lord, so often we just want to ask why especially when miracles happen for others but not for us. But then we also know that not all healing happens here in the temporal order and not all healing comes from miracles. It is the small miracles of modern medicine that never gives up on a cure giving us more time with our loved ones or the miracle of emotional recovery which comes from just giving things time to heal, to the miracles of repentance that happen every day or at least every week in every Catholic Church when someone returns to the Father’s House and their sins are just gone! And we know that all will be healed, every tear will be dried, and death will be no more because You have made all things new! (Revelation 22). So dispose of us as You wish Lord- Fiat, They Will Be Done!
Today’s Consuming Fire Meditation- – A Daily Dose of the Flame of Love Diary Served Up with Today’s Scriptures
Memorial of Saint Scholastica
Nothing Escapes His Notice
Before He left, He stayed a long time in front of our house and made me sense that He was thinking about our house. He began to list the merits of our family, those virtues which I made the children practice when they were small. He emphasized how meritorious were the fervent night prayer. He said how much He appreciated the small ejaculations that we added to those prayers. He also noted that our family was consecrated to His Sacred Heart. (Elizabeth) (August 16, 1962)
Today’s Readings: In those days when there again was a great crowd without anything to eat, Jesus summoned the disciples and said, “My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will collapse on the way, and some of them have come a great distance.” (Mark 8)
Prayer Meditation- Lord, absolutely nothing escapes Your Notice! You know our needs even before we know them- that it is late and we are far from home and we are going to need food. Like the Wedding Feast at Cana when Your Mother noticed the wine gone. You have watched us in our homes and in our family lives- the little things that seem like nothing, like saying Grace at family dinner, are so precious in Your Sight! You never fail to catch us at being good- we have nothing to fear because You are a Loving Father that wants nothing but Your Best for us! Nothing escapes Your Loving Gaze and if we bring You the small loaves of our lives You will multiply them because You came so that we would have life and life abundant! (John 10).
Today’s Consuming Fire Meditation- – A Daily Dose of the Flame of Love Diary Served Up with Today’s Scriptures
Doing All Things Well
Because there were four reels, the machine produced abundant material in just a few minutes. You had to be attentive so there would be no waste. The supervisor continually oversaw the good functioning of these machines and was ready to stop them immediately. He did not want a hundredth of a millimeter of error.”
“I remind you of these facts so you see that you gained success from your application and your conscientious work, not from your knowledge. I am with you as the supervisor of the machine. I walk here, I walk there, I am near you so you do not produce anything wasted. Not even an error of one hundredth of a millimeter is admissible. As I told you, not even a hair should separate us.” (Jesus) (November 10, 1962)
Today’s Readings: But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it. They were exceedingly astonished and they said, “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” (Mark 7)
Prayer Meditation- O Lord You do all things well! You did not only do them well in Your Public Ministry, You did them well in the everyday ordinary life of Nazareth as a carpenter and as a son, neighbor and friend. Lord, You know what it is to work and to do so with excellence, offering all to the Glory of God, working as if unto The Lord (Colossians 3:23-24). Because work done for Your Glory is a form of prayer, ora et labora, work and prayer. You want to be with us in every form of work we do every day- nothing is too lowly- the work of raising a family, sweeping the floors, working in a factory, all can be done for Your Glory! Lord purify our motives today- if we are nurses, we are caring for You today, if we are lawyers we work for true justice and mercy, if we are carpenters we are building the Kingdom! Even the work of being sick when offered united to Your Sacrifice is valuable, more valuable then we will ever know. Lord, there is nothing wasted when all is offered for love of You and for the salvation of souls (Sister Lucia).
Today’s Consuming Fire Meditation- – A Daily Dose of the Flame of Love Diary Served Up with Today’s Scriptures
Thursday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time
Scraps
I remembered the poor food in my years of need. For several years, we had only a piece of bread smeared with butter for breakfast, or vegetables without sauce. For years, the poor vegetable platter remained very plain, but I took care to place a nice shiny apple next to each plate. I made the table with great care so the children would not think we were poor. (Elizabeth) (1961-1962)
Today’s Readings: He said to her, “Let the children be fed first. For it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She replied and said to him, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.” Then he said to her, “For saying this, you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter.” (Mark 7)
Prayer Meditation- Lord, You know our struggles and hurts especially when they involve our children. You can seem distant while we struggle- many years of need, sometimes we can feel like we are trying to hold it all together all by ourselves- shining the apples to make everything look okay. Who knows how long it was that the mother in today’s Gospel was doing just that while dealing with a daughter who she feared was lost. Yet Lord, You honor our persistence. Because that woman was just not having it, she was not taking no for an answer- she was in a word, scrappy! Lord help us to not have timid prayers and hearts that just want to give up and give in- because You have not given us a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7). Lord may we come boldly and with confidence to the Throne of Grace (Hebrews 12), even one scrap of favor can turn it all around!
Today’s Consuming Fire Meditation- – A Daily Dose of the Flame of Love Diary Served Up with Today’s Scriptures
Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time
Committing All To The Lord
Ask often and ask for much with respect to intentions and needs and you will receive accordingly. Even more, if I perceive your trust, I will fulfill your request repeatedly. “ (Jesus) (August 6, 1963)
Today’s Readings: Commit to the LORD your way; trust in him, and he will act. He will make justice dawn for you like the light; bright as the noonday shall be your vindication.(Psalm 37)
Prayer Meditation- Lord, how often do we try to do it all in our own strength rather than rely on You. Why do we not trust You when we know that if we do, You will act? Lord, You know what our hearts are full of- it is in today’s Gospel (Mark 7:14-23) yet we think we can do it all on our own. Yet You ask us to give everything to You- our work, our families, our anxieties, our hurts and disappointments, everything! Lord help our feet to truly journey together with You- help us to hear Your Voice saying, this is the way, walk in it when we would turn to the right or to the left (Isaiah 30:21).
Today’s Consuming Fire Meditation- – A Daily Dose of the Flame of Love Diary Served Up with Today’s Scriptures
Memorial of Saint Paul Miki and Companions
Better is One Day in Your Courts
There is always a great and continual longing for God in my heart. I accepted life, death and suffering according to His Holy Will. This filled me with such felicity that words cannot express it. My heart throbbed with happiness. (Elizabeth) (June 5, 1965)
Today’s Readings: My soul yearns and pines for the courts of the LORD. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. (Psalm 84)
Prayer Meditation- How lovely is Your Dwelling Place, Lord God Almighty! Lord, it is indeed better to spend one day in Your Courts than one thousand elsewhere! Lord, today, even if we cannot get to Mass, let us offer ourselves completely to You, fully present in The Tabernacle so that all that we do today will be for Your Glory! Let us encounter You in Your Word, in prayer, and in the Sacraments!
Today’s Consuming Fire Meditation- – A Daily Dose of the Flame of Love Diary Served Up with Today’s Scriptures
Memorial of Saint Agatha
His Real and Everlasting Presence
Such great silence reigned in my soul. The Lord had not yet overwhelmed me with His kind words, but He had filled my soul with His Divine Presence in a marvelous way. I experienced this in my veins and in my bones. (Elizabeth) (August 20, 1962)
Today’s Readings: Then Solomon said, “The LORD intends to dwell in the dark cloud; I have truly built you a princely house, a dwelling where you may abide forever.” (1 Kings 8)
Prayer Meditation- Lord in today’s Gospel the crowd sought only to touch the tassel of Your garment but we who are Catholic Christians get to encounter You whole and entire, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, in The Blessed Sacrament. Do we come to You with the longing of those in Gospel who brought the sick out to the marketplace with expectant hope and faith? Do we not realize the Glory and Majesty of the King of the Universe who intends to live among us in the dark cloud- in the dark cloud of our anxieties, fears, loneliness, sickness, and despair. Lord, dwell in us and abide with us forever- in Your Word, in prayer, and most especially in Your Real Presence- may You be praised loved and glorified in every tabernacle of the world until the end of time!
Today’s Consuming Fire Meditation- – A Daily Dose of the Flame of Love Diary Served Up with Today’s Scriptures
Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time
By His Wounds We Are Healed
“Never tire of contemplating My sacred wounds, from which you will always draw strength.” (Jesus) (March 4-7, 1962)
Today’s Readings: He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He tells the number of the stars; he calls each by name. (Psalms 147)
Prayer Meditation- Lord, we thank You and praise You because You came to heal us-everywhere You went You healed and delivered those who came to You in faith including Simon Peter’s mother in law in Today’s Gospel (Mark 1)! Your endless compassion and mercy for us knows no bounds! Lord, we all have wounds, and You know us by name- You know the individual hurts that are specific to each one of us! And You went to the Cross and took it all upon Yourself so that we would truly be free- You give us strength for today and hope for tomorrow because in Your Love You held nothing back!
Today’s Consuming Fire Meditation- – A Daily Dose of the Flame of Love Diary Served Up with Today’s Scriptures
Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord
Living Fire
On the feast of Candlemas, my beloved sons will introduce the Flame of Love of my heart in procession, so that, in such fashion, it becomes a living fire in their hearts and souls. (Mary) (May 4, 1962)
Today’s Readings:
Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in the sight of all the peoples: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.” (Luke 2)
Prayer Meditation: O Lord on this special day when You were presented to Your Temple as the Light of the World, let us spread the Flame of Love in all hearts and souls so that Your Glory will be fully revealed on Earth! Come Holy Spirit, Come by the means of the Flame of Love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary! Let’s spread the Flame from heart to heart today!
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