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When I see the need there is for divine teaching and how hungry people are to hear it, I am atremble to be off and running throughout the world, preaching the word of God. I have no rest, my soul finds no other relief than to rush about and preach."
- Anthony Mary Claret -
(How are you an instrument of the Gospel? Allow the Spirit to plant seeds of evangelization in your heart and mind.)
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RV 14:14-19; Psalm 96:10, 11-12, 13
LK 21:5-11
While some people were speaking about
how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings,
Jesus said, “All that you see here–
the days will come when there will not be left
a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.”
Then they asked him,
“Teacher, when will this happen?
And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?”
He answered,
“See that you not be deceived,
for many will come in my name, saying,
‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has come.’
Do not follow them!
When you hear of wars and insurrections,
do not be terrified; for such things must happen first,
but it will not immediately be the end.”
Then he said to them,
“Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues
from place to place;
and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.”
USCCB Lectionary
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Praying the Daily Gospels: A Guide to Meditation, by Philip St. Romain,
2018 (3rd ed.)
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Luke 21:5-11 (The destruction of the Temple)
The Temple that existed in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus had taken decades to rebuild. Many believe it rivaled the Temple built by Solomon in beauty and size. It was destroyed, however, by Roman General Vespasius’ troops as they decisively repressed Jewish insurrections in A.D. 70. In today’s reading Jesus warns us that the coming of God’s kingdom will be accompanied by wars, destruction, and
suffering.
• Some philosophers maintain that either God can prevent evil but chooses not to, or he cannot prevent evil even though he might want to do so. What is your response to this statement?
• We live today in a world of economic insecurity and political unrest. How does the peace of Jesus sustain you in the midst of these situations?
Paperback, Kindle and eBook
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Treatise on the Love of God, by St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
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BOOK II: THE HISTORY OF THE GENERATION AND HEAVENLY BIRTH OF DIVINE LOVE
Chapter 3: Of the divine providence in general
God, then, Theotimus, needs not many acts, because one only divine act of his all-powerful will, by reason of its infinite perfection, is sufficient to produce all the variety of his works. But we mortals must treat them after the method and manner of understanding which our small minds can attain to; according to which, to speak of divine providence,
let us consider, I pray you, the reign of the great Solomon, as a perfect model of the art of good government.
This great king then, knowing by divine inspiration that the commonwealth is to religion as the body to the soul, and religion to the commonwealth as the soul to the body, disposed with himself all the parts requisite as well for the establishment of religion as of the commonwealth. As to religion, he determined that a temple must be erected of such and
such length, breadth, and height, so many porches and courts, so many windows and thus of all the rest which belonged to the temple; then so many sacrificers, so many singers and other officers of the temple. And as for the commonwealth he determined to make a royal palace and court for his majesty, and in this so many stewards, so many gentlemen and other courtiers; and, for the people, judges, and other magistrates who were to execute justice further, for the assurance of the kingdom, and
securing of the public peace which it enjoyed, he arranged to have in time of peace a powerful preparation for war, and to this effect two hundred and fifty commanders in various charges, forty thousand horses, and all that great equipage which the Scripture and historians record.
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