Out Of Our Minds

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

Memorial of Sant Francis de Sales

Out Of Our Minds

After this, I placed my daughter C in charge of the house: “From now on, you will be the little owner of this house and I will not cook anymore.” She was surprised and asked what I would do.

“Whatever you ask, I will do and I will eat whatever you give to me.” – “Mother,” she said, “you are acting like a hermit.” (Elizabeth 1961-1962)

Today’s Readings: Jesus came with his disciples into the house.
Again the crowd gathered,
making it impossible for them even to eat.
When his relatives heard of this they set out to seize him,
for they said, “He is out of his mind.” (Mark 3)

Prayer Meditation- Sometimes Lord we can be surprised when serving You conflicts with others’ ideas of who we ought to be and what we ought to be doing, even those closest to us. To our family they just do not understand- Church every day, really? Zoom Rosary over whatever we used to idolize and watch on TV? And mom, what’s with that Mary statue in the garden and Divine Mercy picture on the door? Have you gone crazy they say? Since when did you become a holy roller! Even Your relatives thought You were out of Your Mind Lord! And yet You have asked us to be in the world and not of the world (John 17) and to put on the Mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). And as long as it is not just exterior but interior change as well You call us to keep changing and giving up our attachments as You change us from glory to glory! (2 Corinthians 3:18). Even if we may seem a bit weird these days in this increasingly secular world our families can be assured that they have our prayers and sacrifices and our love as we lay ourselves down so that Your Flame would ignite in all hearts!

Fresh Wineskins

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

Monday in the Second Week in Ordinary Time

Fresh Wineskins

Your living faith in Me keeps your soul in a continual freshness and makes you ready to receive abundant graces. Hence, My little one, do not serve anyone but Me.” (Jesus) (August 1, 1963)

Today’s Readings: Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are ruined. Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.” (Mark 2)

Prayer Meditation- Lord, we thank You today that You long to pour the new wine of Your Spirit into our hearts and souls! But Lord, are we presenting to you fresh wineskins or the stinky old ones that really just need to go? Do we have the old wineskin of legalism that makes us worry about following devotional practices to a T but our heart is not in them, we are far away, just phoning it in as we check the box on our list for the day? Do we have the old wineskin of judging others instead of praying for them, of unforgiveness, of a complaining spirit that is never satisfied when things don’t go our way? Of despair and discouragement and fear instead of continual trust in Your Mercy? Lord help us examine ourselves today and help us take out the trash- create in us a clean heart (Psalm 51) that we are ready to receive the new wine of Your Spirit living in us in a fresh new way! Mother Mary, You who were first to see when the wine ran out for the young couple at the wedding, intercede for us that we would truly do whatever Your Son tells us today (John 2).

Feeling Righteous?

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

Memorial of Saint Anthony, Abbott

Feeling Righteous?

My Elizabeth, I want you to pray so the number of repentant and grateful souls may grow from day to day.” (Jesus) (August 7, 1963)

Today’s Readings: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

Jesus heard this and said to them,

“Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” (Mark 2)

Prayer Meditation- Lord, who are we at this dinner party- who do we identify with as we meditate on this scene? Do we see ourselves as the sinners? Or are there days quite honestly when we act like the scribes and the Pharisees? Are we just part of some Christian/Catholic Club that prays the right prayers and spends time in our parishes with people like us in ministries where we preach to the choir? Do we get even righteously angry about the state of affairs in the Church and our world but spend our time on the Internet reading and not time in Adoration praying? Because I don’t know about you but I am feeling guilty as charged! Because Lord the truth is I was Matthew- I was all things unholy (St. Francis of Assisi) when You called me to follow You and anything good in me comes from You and You Alone! Lord the key I believe is to remember our littleness and helplessness in the light of Your Grace which reaches down to fill our souls with what we need in every moment of every day. And when we walk in that Grace, we can then extend that Grace to all that we meet and pray and sacrifice for them, not for ourselves. Then the number of repentant and grateful souls will grow from day to day because You have increased in us and we have decreased. (John 3:30)

He Saw Their Faith

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

Friday of the First Week of Ordinary Time
He Saw Their Faith

Jesus: “Oh, how this pleases Me! So few times have I enjoyed participating in such an intimate banquet. The souls that make reparation and faithfully follow My desires are so few. (Jesus) (October 18, 1962)

Today’s Readings: They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him. After they had broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to him,

“Child, your sins are forgiven.” (Mark 2)

Prayer Meditation- Lord today we read in the Gospel about the persistence of four friends who would not take no for an answer- too crowded, no worries, let’s just open up the roof and break through! We all want friends like that and we all want to be friends like that because we know that while there may be many obstacles in the way, what our loved ones really need is You! So how are we doing with this? Because in these days it is very common to have even the closest family members away from faith- We say we want the best for our family. But do we really if we are not paying attention to their souls? Lord please help us- if we can’t do the merciful deed or say the merciful thing let us at least say the merciful prayers (Divine Mercy in My Soul) and make sacrifices so that our loved ones would respond to Your Grace! Thank You Lord for the means You are giving us in our times through the Flame of Love to blind Satan and bring everyone to safety on the Ark of Mary! So let’s raise the roof and let’s leave no one behind.

We Are God’s Children Now

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

Christmas Weekday

We Are God’s Children Now

Jesus: “My daughter, what I am about to say to you is not just for you. Share it with all My beloved children. Assimilate the essence of My words with the thoughts from your heart. You must shake lukewarm souls out of the indifference which drowns them. (Jesus) (April 17, 1962)

Today’s Readings: See what love the Father has bestowed on us
that we may be called the children of God.
Yet so we are.
The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
Beloved, we are God’s children now;
what we shall be has not yet been revealed.
We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him,
for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 2)

Prayer Meditation: Lord, what love You have bestowed on us, Your Children,-yes we are Your Children now and what we shall be has not yet been revealed, but we know we shall be like You and we shall see You in Your Glory! This is a promise we can stand on and rest in- Your Goodness Lord and Your Grace! And yet how many souls, even those who call themselves Your Children, even us sadly, can be so indifferent and lukewarm when it comes to returning love for Your Love which is infinite and which never lets us go! It can be hard to stay “fired up” in the mundane details of life and in the disappointments, worries, and even sins that keep cropping up and getting in the way! And yet we know You are always knocking at the door of our hearts (Revelation 3) and even if we open it a crack, the infinite ocean of Your Mercy will come rushing in ready to absorb us like little drops of water. So let us make time for You today- in prayer, in Bible reading and meditating on Your Word. and when we can attend at Mass and Adoration. Now that is a New Years’ resolution worth keeping!

Spirit and Power

Spirit and Power

My daughter, you will have to suffer much. I will give you no consolation that will tie you to the earth, but I will always give you My fortifying grace. Also, the power of the Holy Spirit will be with you.(Jesus) (March 4-7, 1962)

Today’s Readings: He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb,
and he will turn many of the children of Israel
to the Lord their God.
He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah
to turn the hearts of fathers toward children
and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous,
to prepare a people fit for the Lord.” (Luke 1)

Prayer Meditation- O Lord today we thank You and praise You and worship You because today we have announcements- announcements from Heaven. Announcements about the coming of the one who was to prepare the way for You to turn the hearts of fathers towards children and an announcement to an ordinary widow that Your Grace will always be with her even in her suffering as she lives out the plan You have for her life. Because Lord, You have a plan for each one of us, be it a big mission or a smaller more ordinary one. You have had a dream for our lives from all Eternity. O Lord You know we cannot do anything on our own (John 15) except fall down and yet You promise us the power of the Holy Spirit to remind us always of what You have taught us (John 14:26). Not a spirt of fear but of power, love and self control! (2 Timothy 1:7). So Lord, let us surrender ourselves to You without questioning and doubting like Zechariah in today’s Gospel, fully trusting that Your plan is always for our good.

“My child, even if you seemed to love everything, even if all the affections of your heart were to fade away and you found yourself alone and misunderstood by everyone, I should still be your treasure, your goal, your incomparable friend, your beginning and your end. “So don’t be upset by anything. Once and for all, place your heart in Mine, in joy as in distress. If I fill your cup to overflowing, I am your peace. If I put you to the test, I am your companion. Nothing ever ceases to flow from Me to you, if you accept Me. Now do you understand a little better the reason you were born? To be one with Me. Begin, begin right from this very moment. Tighten the bonds of union. Ask the immaculate one for this grace. Her heart never left Me. And you, child, never leave Me. Never. I’ll be tempted to thank you.””

— He and I by Gabrielle Bossis

⁸ Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ (Philippians 3:8).

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,^[d]
    I fear no evil;
for thou art with me;
    thy rod and thy staff,
    they comfort me. (Psalm 23:4)

⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty (Revelations 1:8)

Reflection- O Lord we can feel so alone in this world even in the best of circumstances. But now during this Holiday Season, so many can really be feeling the losses- of loved ones, of poor health, of loneliness and depression. And yet You are our treasure, our goal, our only purpose in life. Our Alpha and Omega, our beginning and our end. And You promise that You are not just there on the mountaintop but as a faithful companion in the valley, our comfort and our peace. So let us ask for the grace to live fused in Your Most Holy and Divine Will, one with You no matter the circumstances. Mary Queen of Peace please pray for us.