SEEDS OF GRACE

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

Saturday of the Sixteenth Week of Ordinary Time

Seeds of Grace

“Always give Me new and abundant sacrifices. I am sowing in your soul the seed of My graces, My holy doctrine. Cultivate it in your soul by your prayers, mortifications, and a continual acceptance of sacrifices.” (Jesus) (May 18, 1963)

Today’s Readings: ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ His slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ He replied, ‘No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them.(Matthew 13)

Prayer Meditation- Lord, You always sow good seed into our souls, the seeds of Your Grace and Your Holy Doctrine! Yet we have an enemy who wants to sow weeds where You have sown the good wheat. Lord help us to guard and cultivate our souls by prayer and acceptance of sacrifices which will keep us connected to You! And as for those weeds, thank You Lord for Your patience and mercy as You patiently tend to our souls making sure that You do not pull up the good wheat as you gently pull out the weeds because a  bruised reed You will not break! (Isaiah 42).

GRANDPARENT’S DAY

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

Memorial of Saint Joachim and Anne

Grandparent’s Day

At that moment, my youngest daughter M, the mother of two small children, came in. She said: “I have to look for work because one salary is not enough” (her husband is a teacher). I decided to help her. I gave up my good paying work at the cooperative (which consisted of painting plastics), so that she did not have to leave the two small children alone in the house. This was my final sacrifice. (Elizabeth) (1961-1962)

Today’s Readings (Optional Readings): And for all time their progeny will endure,
their glory will never be blotted out;
Their bodies are peacefully laid away,
but their name lives on and on.
At gatherings their wisdom is retold,
and the assembly proclaims their praise. (Sirach 44)

Prayer Meditation- O Lord we bless You, we adore You, and we praise You because today we celebrate grandparents! We extol their wisdom or at least we should and we mourn when they leave us leaving memories of the sacrifices they made to make our lives happy and safe, especially when baby sitting us like Elizabeth did for her grandkids! And now many of us may be in that position as grandparents and it is the best kind of love you can have on this Earth! And I just know Saint Anne and Saint Joachim, even though they may not have been around when You were born, must have been and continue to be so in awe that their little blessed Mary born later in life was the One chosen by You to be Your Mother and ours! So let us Lord be thankful for our grandparents and parents and our children and grandchildren bringing them all to You in Your Holy and Divine Will because united to You and in Your Love may our names live on in Your Glory forever amen!

PERPLEXED BUT NOT DRIVEN TO DESPAIR

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

Feast of Saint James

Perplexed But Not Driven to Despair

“The Evil One wants to make you fall into despair. He will use a ruse to ruin your humility.” (Jesus) (March 16, 1966)

Today’s Readings: Brothers and sisters: We hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body (2 Corinthians 4)

Prayer Meditation- Lord, we so often feel afflicted and perplexed. It is so easy to fall into despair and feel hemmed in on every side by the world, the flesh, and the devil. We are but earthen vessels that hold You, our treasure! Yet if we are in You Lord, we can sing with St. Paul with all of our hearts that we are not constrained, we are not driven to despair, we are not abandoned, and we are not destroyed because Your power lives in us!

CHOSEN FOR HIS PURPOSE

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

Wednesday of the Sixteenth Week of Ordinary Time

Chosen For His Purpose

“You see that almost no one is doing anything. The Flame of Love of My Mother is not yet going forward. You, My little one, must stir up the fire because you have been chosen for this. This is a great privilege. (Jesus) (July 12, 1962)

Today’s Readings:

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I dedicated you,
a prophet to the nations I appointed you. (Jeremiah 1)

Prayer Meditation: O Lord, You have chosen us for Your Purpose and Your Glory. You knew us before we were born and You appointed us to be born and to serve You in these perilous times! Lord, let us stir into flame this gift You have given us for these times for You did not give us a spirit of fear but of power, love, and self -control!

OUR FOREVER FAMILY

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

Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week of Ordinary Time

Our Forever Family

My Mother accompanied Me everywhere with her love, her sacrifices and her prayers.  (Jesus) (January 17, 1964))

Today’s Readings: “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.” (Matthew 12)

Prayer Meditation- Lord God we thank You for the forever family You have given us in the Saints like the amazing Saint Bridget we celebrate today and particularly Our Blessed Mother! She accompanied You everywhere with Her sacrifices and prayers and She does the same for us! Our Mother and brothers and sisters in faith do Your Will-may we imitate them and do the same!

ALIVE

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!

COME AWAY- THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD

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

Come Away- The Lord Is My Shepherd

My daughter, because you have given Me refuge so I can rest in your soul, I will radiate My love to you. Accept this as a great honor, because by this means you are honoring Me. Never deprive Me of this refuge. This depends only on you. I have gone to the extreme limits of My love. (April 8, 1962)

Today’s Readings: The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
    In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
beside restful waters he leads me;
    he refreshes my soul. (Psalm 23)

For he is our peace (Ephesians 2)

He said to them,
“Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” 
People were coming and going in great numbers,
and they had no opportunity even to eat. 
So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place.  (Mark 6)

Prayer Meditation- O Lord, we praise You, we thank You and we glorify You because in these Sunday Mass readings You speak to us of peace and rest. You ask us to come to You and rest- to come to that deserted place with You in our souls where You will quench our thirst with Your Living Water to refresh us! If we are disposed You do this for us at every Mass. But even outside of the Mass You do the same in prayer or when we are meditating on Your Word- but we have to come away from You and do this every day! And it is not a one way street, because the more time we spend with You and fall in love with You the more peaceful we become making our souls a place of refuge for You just like the home of Lazarus, Mary and Martha was during Your public life. It is a beautiful exchange, we breathe You in and we breathe out Your peace, joy, and happiness- the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5). Let us really dive into the Mass Readings this Sunday and let You live them through us all week- breathe in our breathing, think in our thinking, speak in our speaking for Your Glory and for mercy, salvation, and sanctification of souls.

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THE BRUISED REED HE WILL NOT BREAK

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

Saturday of the Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time

The Bruised Reed He Will Not Break

With motherly love, I will await your arrival in Heaven. The drops of oil resulting from your sufferings will fall on the earth into the lamps that are either extinguished or barely flickering in the souls, and they will ignite at my Flame of Love. You, therefore, can take your place beside me until the end of the world.” (Mary) (Diary Page 92)

Today’s Readings: The bruised reed he will not break
And the smoldering wick he will not extinguish
Until judgment is made victorious.
In his name, the Gentiles will hope. (Matthew 12)

Prayer Meditation: Lord, how many souls there are who are bruised reeds and smoldering wicks. Some beat down by life, some stuck in patterns of sin and perhaps addiction with no way out, others who just struggle with discouragement and anxiety and who feel their hope fading. We are in dark times and the light of faith in so many is barely flickering. The culture we are in and the lockdowns make it even harder to find You in the midst of the storm. But the truth is Lord, You are in our boats and in our storms (Mark 4) and You are still in control! And You long to heal us and restore the lost and not to condemn us because there is no condemnation in You (Romans 8). Lord in these times, You have asked Your little ones, Mary’s Army or those consecrated to You through Her, to offer our prayers and sacrifices to save souls. There is more grace than ever though the Flame of Love and we are literally the little lifeboats You are sending out to spread this flame in the darkness. Lord, help us reach the lost through our words, deeds, and prayers- our spiritual acts of mercy because You want only to bring them back into the fold and there will be joy in Heaven for each lost soul who returns Home! (Luke 15).

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

The Hezekiah Plan

When I heard in my heart the date when I would die and be among the blessed, I felt deep gratitude. To be freed from earth will be an unimaginable pleasure. (Elizabeth) (January 1, 1965)

Today’s Reading: Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah: “Go, tell Hezekiah:
Thus says the LORD, the God of your father David:
I have heard your prayer and seen your tears.
I will heal you: in three days you shall go up to the LORD’s temple;
I will add fifteen years to your life.
I will rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria;
I will be a shield to this city.”

Prayer Meditation- O Lord, this one is deeply personal for me and I think many others so everyone hold on tight! Not many of us will be given the grace given to Elizabeth Kindelmann or King Hezekiah to know how much time we have been given. And it is interesting to hear the contrast, Elizabeth was ready to live with You in paradise free from the Earth right here right now. King Hezekiah pleaded for more time. Very few of us are in the first camp and most are in the latter with King Hezekiah. Everybody wants to go to Heaven but nobody wants to go now!  So where am I going with this, some of those reading and praying may know, some of you may not, that my husband was diagnosed with multiple myeloma three years ago. When I learned of his diagnosis, of course like any wife I prayed but it was in Adoration that I prayed something pretty bold and very specific. I wanted the “Hezekiah Plan” if it was His Holy and Divine Will.  I actually used those words followed by Lord, please just more time. And we have had it, periods of intense treatment but so many blessings- trips to Florida, time with family and friends, but most importantly the realization that every day is a gift even if it is not guaranteed. We have grown closer to You Lord including praying the Family Rosary every night! We never did that together before. We have learned what matters most and what matters least. Lord I look at the responsorial psalm- “Those live whom the LORD protects;
yours is the life of my spirit. You have given me health and life.” Lord we have had Your protecting Hand every step of the way. Lord I know there are many who read these little devotionals each day who I do not know- who are walking through the valley right now of cancer or some other serious disease or any number of really hard things including depression, loneliness of old age, children off course, job and economic issues. And we cry and we plead and we wonder if we are heard. And yet Your Plan is always perfect and You hold all of our tears in Your Mighty Right Hand and collect them in a bottle (Psalm 56). You do not miss a thing! So let us look forward always not just to this life as beautiful as it is but come to You with empty hands  and deep gratitude as we fly to You always in Your Time and not ours!

REST FOR OUR SOULS

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

Rest for Our Souls

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, it seems sometimes we just have nothing left. It is so tiring to keep trying to do it all in our own strength. Without You, we just run around in circles- it seems like life gets more and more exhausting. Lord, this is not the life You want us to be living! Lord, let us go to You for rest for our souls- even in the trials Your Yoke is easy and You never leave us abandoned if we would but abandon ourselves to You like a little drop in the Ocean of Your Mercy!