The Lord Himself Will Fight For You- Be Still

Posted byValerie Parisi July 23, 2023  EditThe Lord Himself Will Fight For You- Be Still

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

Monday of the Sixteenth Week of Ordinary Time

The Lord Himself Will Fight For You- Be Still

Jesus: “My little sister, by calling you this way, I invite you to trust Me and to believe in the One who calls you ‘little one’. When I speak this way, I guarantee you My loving care. I will give you all that you need and I will defend you at every moment. Are you not touched that I care for your needs in such a simple way? (Jesus) (April 20, 1964)

Today’s Readings: “Fear not! Stand your ground,
and you will see the victory the LORD will win for you today.
These Egyptians whom you see today you will never see again.
The LORD himself will fight for you; you have only to keep still. (Exodus 14)

Prayer Meditation- O Lord, we bless You, and thank You and adore You for the way that You come to us in every fight. You do not leave us alone but defend us at every moment, even we do not feel that You are there. How many times do we read in the Bible not to fear? And You reassure us that those “Egyptians” in our life- our worries, our fears, our problems, our sicknesses we will never see them again if we stand our ground and prepare to see Your victory because You will fight for us if only we would keep still. Sometimes the victory is on this side of the veil, sometimes it is in Eternity but we can rest assured in confident hope that united with You we will see victory because the battle belongs to You! (2 Chronicles 20). Your loving care is guaranteed.

Praying As We Ought

Posted byValerie Parisi July 22, 2023  EditPraying As We Ought

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

Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Praying As We Ought

Meanwhile, doubts greatly disturbed my soul and I could not free myself of my depressing spiritual torments. I am the foolish victim of my own imagination. (Elizabeth) (October 23-24, 1963)

Today’s Readings: Brothers and sisters: The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.. (Romans 8)

Prayer Meditation- Lord sometimes it can be so hard to pray- we feel dry or we can be in desolation and despair. A heart full of sadness can crush our spirit (Proverbs 15). We often do not know where these moods come from- sometimes it is unconfessed sin, sometimes it is fatigue or stress, sometimes it is the alternating lightness and darkness that You send us so that we will grow spiritually. But Lord we know that Your Holy Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness- even when we cannot pray as we ought, Your Spirit intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings! You never leave us alone! So Lord, help us to persist in prayer no matter what it feels like! Let us examine our consciences to see if we need correction and repentance and let us trust that the Teacher is always quiet during the test! Thank You Lord for helping us not to give up- we trust in Your Goodness Lord always!

Alive

Posted byValerie Parisi July 21, 2023  EditAlive

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

Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene

Alive

Keep your desire for Me alive and be a living host for love. (Jesus) (April 17, 1962)

Today’s Readings: Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” (John 20)

Prayer Meditation- Lord today we honor the feast day of a saint that means a lot I think to all of us. Mary Magdalene had a past- we all have a past. And yet, she moved from death to life, from sin to repentance and became a disciple. She became one of Your most faithful disciples, never leaving You at the Foot of the Cross though others fled. And You rewarded her faithfulness by showing Yourself risen and alive so that she could tell the Apostles. Whoever is in You Lord is a new creation, the old things have passed away (2 Corinthians 5). Lord, Mary Magdalene gives us the hope that no matter where we came from or what we have done there is mercy for every sin. And it is not how we started but how we finish that matters to You! Let us live today for You alive in us so that we can take You to others!

Mercy Not Sacrifice

Posted byValerie Parisi July 20, 2023  EditMercy Not Sacrifice

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

Friday of the Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time

Mercy Not Sacrifice

“May our lips pray together to gain mercy from the Eternal Father

(Jesus) (May 4, 1962)

Today’s Readings: I say to you, something greater than the temple is here. If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned these innocent men. For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.” (Matthew 12)

Prayer Meditation- Lord, as we pray and make our sacrifices let us not lose sight of what this is all about. We are returning love for the Love that never lets us go! Lord, If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal! (1 Corinthians 13). Lord, help us to offer to You a humble and contrite heart and fill us with Your Mercy and Grace so that we would overflow to those around us!

You Will Find Rest

Posted byValerie Parisi July 19, 2023  EditYou Will Find Rest

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

Thursday of the Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time

You Will Find Rest

As the night was falling, I went to the Lord Jesus to receive some rest for my soul. Suddenly, the Spirit of Love overwhelmed me with a feeling that caused me to tremble. (Elizabeth) (October 23-24, 1963)

Today’s Readings: Jesus said:

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” (Matthew 11)

Prayer Meditation- Lord, we praise You, we bless You and we glorify You because we come to You for rest! We race around wound up, stressed out, burned out- the walking wounded. Life just piles up. Even when things are good, we wait for the next shoe to drop. Anxiety is just rampant these days. But You are the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Our worlds are spinning but You remain stable. Lord today, we come to You believing You will give us rest and even when the burdens seem heavy, we know that with You all burdens become light. Jesus, we trust in You!

Like A Little Child

Posted byValerie Parisi July 18, 2023  EditLike A Little Child

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

Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time

Like a Little Child

But just as the heavenly Father took the Child Jesus under His protection, so does He now protect my Flame of Love.” (Mary) (May 19, 1963)

Today’s Readings: At that time Jesus exclaimed: “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. (Matthew 11)

Prayer Meditation- Lord, sometimes we feel that we need to learn and know more and more, even when it comes to the faith. But without You we cannot rely on our own understanding (Proverbs 3). You can reach us best when we surrender like little children in absolute trust. Then what seems hidden to the world is revealed into our hearts as we rest on Yours! Lord Jesus, You came to Earth as a little baby- dependent on God the Father and on Your earthly parents who lived childlike faith and trust. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, we love You, save souls!

Woe To Us?

Posted byValerie Parisi July 17, 2023  EditWoe To Us?

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

Tuesday of the Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time

Woe to Us?

My beloved Jesus, I want to repent of my sins and to love You more than any repentant sinner. My beloved Jesus, in the future, I ask that not one day goes by without my love causing me tears of repentance. Humble me, Lord Jesus, every moment of my life, so I always see myself as poor and sinful. O my Lord Jesus, my heart shudders when I think that I can live with You on this earth and then, after my death, be separated from You for a short time because of my sins. Tell me, O sweet Jesus, what will I do with my innumerable sins?” (Elizabeth) (1961-1962)

Today’s Readings: Jesus began to reproach the towns
where most of his mighty deeds had been done,
since they had not repented.
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!
For if the mighty deeds done in your midst
had been done in Tyre and Sidon,
they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes.
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable
for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. (Matthew 11)

Prayer Meditation- Lord, we praise You and thank You and glorify You for Your Gospel today. Because we read about the towns in the Gospel that had seen Your Mighty Deeds and they did not convert. It is so easy to think that Gospel is all about those hard hearted people long ago but really if we look in the mirror, we know it is also about us. We have been given every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1) in our one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church including the Most Holy Eucharist and how many either do not believe, do not attend, or just take it all for granted. Even daily Mass attenders can easily take what they are receiving each day for granted. Even when the Churches shut down and reopened, where was the hunger among most of the faithful to return to The Sacraments? So many are now comfortable watching the Mass on TV. And yet this is the time that we who are paying attention need to repent of our sins and come to You in humility knowing we are poor and sinful. We need to do this for ourselves and we need to do it for others who have not repented. Because blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of God! (Matthew 5). So let us not hear woe, a terrifying word that we never want to hear from You, but let us turn in faith, hope, and trust for mercy, salvation, and sanctification for our souls and for all souls because the Kingdom is coming!

The Cross of Difficult Trials

Posted byValerie Parisi July 16, 2023  EditThe Cross of Difficult Trials

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

Monday of the Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time

The Cross of Difficult Trials

Listen, my daughter, you are also the mother of a large family. Through your children you know all the pains and problems of a family. Many times you were close to falling beneath the cross of difficult trials, and you still experience many sorrows over your children. Bearing such ordeals is meritorious for you and for any mother. (Mary) (November 19, 1962)

Today’s Readings: Jesus said to his Apostles:

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s enemies will be those of his household. (Matthew 10)

Prayer Meditation- Lord, how many families today have conflict and today You promise us a sword- often our own “enemies” may be in our own household. Lord, You know all the pains and problems of a family and the sorrows that fill the hearts of so many mothers and fathers today over our children. The crosses of these difficult trials can threaten to overwhelm us and yet we know we do not carry our burdens alone! Lord, may our feet journey together as we take up our crosses confident that You will give us the rest we seek because Your yolk is easy and Your burden light! (Matthew 11). Mother Mary take us by the hand and place our families under Your Mantle so that the Flame of Love would be ignited in their hearts!

Sown Among Thorns

Posted byValerie Parisi July 15, 2023  EditSown Among Thorns

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

Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Sown Among Thorns

I spent the whole day filled with anxieties. At night, as I went to adore the Lord, I thought in the midst of my uncertainty: “My God, what is going on with me? Where have I allowed myself to be led? What is true? What is now in me or what was there before?” (Elizabeth) (March 4-7, 1962)

Today’s Readings: The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word,
but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word
and it bears no fruit. (Matthew 13)

Prayer Meditation- Lord, here we are again with the Parable of the Sower. It was Your first parable so it is very important. The same Word proceeds from Your Mouth, not to return void but to achieve the end for which You sent it (Isaiah 55). Because You are the same yesterday, today and forever! (Hebrews 13). But how are we receiving it? I believe that at times in my life I have been the soil on the path not paying any attention to Your Word and the rocky soil that wants to sing Hallelujah at hearing Your Word but cannot stand up to the scrutiny of the world, thus not letting anything take root, as I would return to whatever was popular at the time. That would be my younger years but what really describes many of us all too often, even followers of You Lord, is the third soil. So many of us, me included, are just too full of anxiety to let anything take root, especially these days with so much turmoil in the world. And I believe more than ever, we are presented with a choice because You need us all in right now! So do we keep choosing to let the thorns in our gardens choke the Word in our hearts and just let our emotions and our fears  in these days take over?  Or do we allow You finally, no matter how painful this pruning may be, to rid us of these thorns and brambles so that we can produce the fruit You have intended us to produce from the beginning of time. You told Saint Faustina that the greatest obstacles to holiness are discouragement and exaggerated anxiety. So let us pray the prayer given to us by You which concludes the Divine Mercy Chaplet- Eternal God in who mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us that in difficult moments we might not despair, nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your Holy Will which is Love and Mercy itself!

Meant For Good

Posted byValerie Parisi July 14, 2023  EditMeant For Good

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

Memorial of Saint Bonaventure

Meant for Good

For a long time, He allowed me to feel His presence filled with goodness and majesty. As an insignificant person, really less than nothing, I felt great emotion. I could only babble: “Depart from me, O Lord, I am a great sinner.” (Elizabeth) (August 16, 1962)

Today’s Readings: Even though you meant harm to me, God meant it for good, to achieve his present end, the survival of many people. (Genesis 49)

Prayer Meditation- Lord, we have been reading all week about Joseph who was left for dead by his brothers then sold into slavery. But You had plans for him- plans for hope and a future and not for harm. (Jeremiah 29:11). You meant everything for good for Joseph and You mean that for us too no matter how difficult life may seem or circumstances may be. All things work together for good for those who love You (Romans 8:28). We are less than nothing and yet You hold us all in the Palm of Your Hand!