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What then are we afraid of? Can we have too much of God? ... Is it a misfortune to be freed from the heavy yoke of the world, and to bear the light burden of Jesus Christ? Do we fear to be too happy, too much delivered from ourselves, from the caprices of our pride, the violence of our passions, and the tyranny of a deceitful world?
... François Fénelon (1651-1715),
Pious Reflections for Every Day in the Month
(All good questions to ponder this day.)
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IS 7:1-9; PS 48:2-8; MT 11:20-24
R. God upholds his city for ever.
Great is the LORD and wholly to be praised
in the city of our God.
His holy mountain, fairest of heights,
is the joy of all the earth.
Mount Zion, "the recesses of the North,"
is the city of the
great King.
God is with her castles;
renowned is he as a stronghold.
For lo! the kings assemble,
they come on
together;
They also see, and at once are stunned,
terrified, routed.
Quaking seizes them there;
anguish, like a
woman's in labor,
As though a wind from the east
were shattering ships of Tarshish.
USCCB Lectionary
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Reflection on the Scriptures |
. . . And in the Gospel, Jesus talks of cities again. The cities where he has been preaching and performing miracles are not accepting him and not repenting, changing their ways and following him. He's right there. He's performing miracles. They can see him. Why
won't they accept him? Why won't they follow him? He says other towns would love to have him and would repent and follow him immediately. He says if he had been at Sodom, they would have recognized him and repented and would still be here today. But here he is, doing miracles, and this town won't recognize. He says it will be better for Sodom at the Judgment day. They perished, but they didn't have the opportunity for redemption. This town has every opportunity and won't take advantage. It's
worse for them. And what is our lesson here? What city should we be like? The city that has faith and trusts in God will persevere. The city that sees Jesus and refuses to repent will fail. We should trust in God and be saved. Jesus is not physically in our midst performing miracles,
but we can still learn from his teachings and we can still recognize him and repent. We can be like the city that is saved. We can see the city of God. We can accept Jesus, and if we do we can be saved - by Tami WhitneyCreighton Online Ministries
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Selected Quotes from the Writings of St. Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
Because a woman brought death
a bright Maiden overcame it,
and so the highest blessing
in all of creation
lies in the form of a woman,
since God has become man
in a sweet and blessed Virgin.
-" Quia ergo femina"
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