Nothing Except Christ Crucified

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

Memorial of the Passion of Saint John The Baptist

Nothing Except Christ Crucified

At night, I laid down to rest. Because of my weakness and tiredness, I could hardly think. Quite unexpectedly, the Lord Jesus surprised me with His words and started to converse. Never in my life had His words penetrated so deeply within me. I listened to them with a trembling heart and devout concentration. (Elizabeth) (June 9, 1965)

Today’s Readings: You yourselves know, brothers and sisters,
that our reception among you was not without effect.
Rather, after we had suffered and been insolently treated,
as you know, in Philippi,
we drew courage through our God
to speak to you the Gospel of God with much struggle.
Our exhortation was not from delusion or impure motives,
nor did it work through deception.
But as we were judged worthy by God to be entrusted with the Gospel,
that is how we speak,
not as trying to please men,
but rather God, who judges our hearts.(1 Thessalonians 2)

Prayer Meditation- Lord today we honor and remember the Passion of Saint John the Baptist. He had stood up for Your Commandments and was imprisoned. We can only imagine his fatigue, suffering and maybe even confusion in prison. Because Lord it is when we are weak we are strong (2 Corinthians 2:10) because You are strong in us. We all have our times of weakness and tiredness in our lives and in our service to You- times when we are really united to You, our crucified Lord, in our suffering. There is no victory without the Cross, however united to You we are assured that in faith no matter how weak and lost we may seem, we are operating not in our own human wisdom but in Your power and for Your Glory! Saint John the Baptist please pray for us because unless a grain of wheat falls into the Earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it does, it bears much fruit (John 12:24)

Based on the Spiritual Classic He and I by Gabrielle Bossis

“ August 28—I was thanking Him for all His blessings.

“Even when your faith is no bigger than a mustard seed you must strive to make it grow. Look upon these special blessings of today as My love, attentive to every detail of your life; and at every step of your way, you will find Me watching, going ahead of you. Have you ever gone anywhere that I have not been waiting for you? You often ask Me to take care of your precious belongings. But for Me, aren’t you more precious than all? “Entrust yourself to Me constantly. And always give Me each moment as it passes. Isn’t it better in My hands? Doesn’t it say in the gospel, ‘He laid His hands on them and healed them.’ I’ll take out of this present moment of yours whatever clings too much to the earth—the selfishness that sullies your intention. “Always trust. Trust more and more—even to the point of expecting a miracle. Don’t stop half way or you will set limits to My love. When you have unfolded your confidence you will unfold it still more without ever being able to exceed what I expect of you. “Always count on Me, never on yourself. And you will advance; you will soar with wings like the eagle, My very little girl.””

²⁰ He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from hence to yonder place,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. (Matthew 17:20)

Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?
    Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
⁸ If I ascend to heaven, thou art there!
    If I make my bed in Sheol, thou art there!
⁹ If I take the wings of the morning
    and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
¹⁰ even there thy hand shall lead me,
    and thy right hand shall hold me. (Psalm 139:7-10)

¹⁷ And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:17)

Prayer- O Lord even in all of the blessings You pour upon us each day You want to give us so much more! O Lord we cannot flee from Your Presence, You are always there! Let us entrust ourselves completely to You, giving You every moment trusting in You always and never in ourselves. Fiat Jesus, They Will be done!

Faithful And Prudent Servant

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

Memorial of Saint Augustine

Faithful And Prudent Servant

What you must love and seek the most in it are the internal and external humiliations. Never believe that you are important. Your principal task is to consider yourself as nothing; never stop doing this. Even after your death, this should be happening. It is for that reason also that you receive the graces of internal and external humiliations. In this way, you can remain faithful in spreading my Flame of Love. Take advantage of every opportunity; seek these external and internal humiliations with your own effort, because what you seek for yourself increases your humility even more.” (Mary) (September 29, 1962)

Today’s Readings: Jesus said to his disciples:
“Stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.

“Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant,
whom the master has put in charge of his household
to distribute to them their food at the proper time?
Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so.
Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property.

Prayer Meditation- Lord, we read today in the Gospel and in the Diary about being faithful and being vigilant! To be prepared, to be faithful in our tasks, to remember most of all that we are nothing and that You are all! To accept internal and external humiliations and to offer them to You for the salvation and sanctification of all souls! No one lived in complete faithfulness and in total union with You like Our Lady. When we feel tired and confused and just not sure what the right next step is let us turn to Her as our model and guide to Your Most Holy and Divine Will which is Love and Mercy itself! Blessed Lady may we do all of our actions under Your Maternal Gaze!

““Wherever you are, you are in Me. You are all Mine. Nothing but sin could ever separate us. You can’t possibly escape My love! It is all-encompassing. Serve it. Wait upon Me. How often I have served you in the outpouring of My tenderness! What have I not done for you, My dear little child? If you suffer, suffer with Me. All these discomforts caused by the weather—I bore them all, like you, on the open roads. Always be one with Me in everything that happens to you. How I love this attitude—being ready to merge. Isn’t that love itself? A longing for at-onement? “I garner up your faith, rewarding it with grace. And if you give yourself to grace, I respond by giving you a greater grace. And so, step by step you will soon rise to heights you never suspected. For there is no end to My gifts and it is My joy to commune with you unceasingly.”” (He and I, Gabrielle Bossis, 8/26)

Scripture Meditation- ³⁸ For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.¹⁸ I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. (Romans 8:17-18)

¹⁷ But he who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. (1 Corinthians 6:17)

Prayer Reflection- My Jesus how thankful I am that nothing can every separate us and we cannot escape Your Love! Let us always be ready to be in union with You, even in our sufferings which You bore for us not only in the Passion but in all the small things of life. May our feet journey together!