Saturday Mass Readings (Love God above all / Faith that accomplishes miracles)

[distracted]

Saturday - August 8

Reading 1
Dt 6:4-13

Moses said to the people:
“Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone!
*** Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God,
with all your heart,
and with all your soul,
and with all your strength.
Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today.
Drill them into your children.
Speak of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest***.
Bind them at your wrist as a sign
and let them be as a pendant on your forehead.
Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates.

“When the LORD, your God, brings you into the land which he swore
to your fathers: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
that he would give you,
a land with fine, large cities that you did not build,
with houses full of goods of all sorts that you did not garner,
with cisterns that you did not dig,
***with vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant;
and when, therefore, you eat your fill,
take care not to forget the LORD,***who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.
The LORD, your God, shall you fear;
him shall you serve, and by his name shall you swear.”

**
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 18:2-3a, 3bc-4, 47 and 51**

R. (2) I love you, Lord, my strength.
I love you, O LORD, my strength,
O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.
My God, my rock of refuge,
my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold!
Praised be the LORD, I exclaim!
And I am safe from my enemies.
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.
The LORD live! And blessed be my Rock!
Extolled be God my savior!
You who gave great victories to your king,
and showed kindness to your anointed,
to David and his posterity forever.
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.

Gospel
Mt 17:14-20
A man came up to Jesus, knelt down before him, and said,
***“Lord, have pity ***on my son, who is a lunatic and suffers severely;
often he falls into fire, and often into water.
I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.”
Jesus said in reply,
***“O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you?
How long will I endure you? ***
Bring the boy here to me.”
Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him,
and from that hour the boy was cured.
Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said,
“Why could we not drive it out?”
He said to them, “Because of your little faith.
Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you will say to this mountain,
‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.
***Nothing will be impossible for you.” ***

**

Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God,
with all your heart,
and with all your soul,
and with all your strength.
Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today

Frankly, i don’t see too many people taking these words to heart… People love themselves (and $, etc) "with all [their] heart and with all [their soul] and with all [their] strength… so it seems to me…

How many people spend time alone with God every day or even every week?

He is the one person we can never deceive…

God says that when he blesses us materially, we should take heed never forget about him
yet material wealth (and other things) tend to make us forget Him… until some disaster strikes…

Jesus speaks of not being able to accomplish things due to lack of faith. He gets angry at the apostles and speaks of a “perverse generation” & seems to be eager to be free from them… I kinda know the feeling… gets tiresome being around all the sin :banghead::hypno:uch: (my own included)…

 

[cheeto1]

*How many people spend time alone with God every day or even every week? *

So what do you think? Is the amount of time spent alone with the Lord a measure
of the amount we love Him? We can’t just measure by comparison to how many
others spend “x” amount of time with Him. Remember, Jesus often prayed all
night in the wilderness alone probably with no tent or sleeping bag, or food. But
was this the measure of how much Jesus loved God? Or was it when He made the
ultimate sacrifice? Yet without prayer, how can anyone learn to love Him more?

They left a very important line off of today’s gospel. Following the very last line, it
says “This kind does not leave but by prayer and fasting”. Jesus criticized the
faith of seemingly everyone in the world, saying if they had faith the size of a
mustard seed, they could move a mountain. Maybe they could move a mountain,
but where can they find faith that moving a mountain is in God’s will? We only get
what we pray for if it is in God’s will, but if God wills something, wouldn’t He just
do it, without someone praying?

Today is the day of St. Dominic, famous for working to uproot the “Albigensian” heresy. I have never heard of this. It means they thought there were 2 Gods, one
good who made the soul and wrote the new testament, one evil who made the body to imprison the soul, and wrote the old testament. Today’s first reading is our first
protection against being led astray by stange and unusual beliefs. And if we don’t listen for the voice of God every day, then whose voice will we hear?

First of all, it seems like the devil worked to violently murder true believers in Jesus.
Then, he seemed to move on to create many heresies, and infiltrate the church.
Now it seems like he works to keep us in comfort and entertained, so that we seek
these 2 things before God.

 

[cheeto1]

Distracted, I meant to tell you, I like the way you give the readings a short title
(Love God above all, Faith that accomplishes miracles, etc.)

 

[Huiou_Theou]

So what do you think? Is the amount of time spent alone with the Lord a measure of the amount we love Him?

I wonder how accurate that measure is; for Jesus also talks about those who wish to gain a hearing by “multiplication” of words; yet, although vanity can strip an encounter of value – yet, where one’s treasure is – that is where one’s thoughts and heart are drawn. A mother who dearly misses a child thinks of them almost daily, even if she is doing other things to occupy her mind because contact is at best brief and restricted over a letter of phone call. What then of people like Mother Theresa whom God gave a potent touch, and then withdraws himself for the rest of their life – leaving them dry; longing; aching for him – but isolated.
Does she love him more or less by the acts of love she does for the Christ in each of the discarded – in comparison to the time in front of the tabernacle (And she did both!) Or does one dare reverse the comparison?

They left a very important line off of today’s gospel. Following the very last line, it
says “This kind does not leave but by prayer and fasting”.

Yes, the same idea as the prayer and abstinence of Tobit and his Wife regarding the demon who slayed the gluttonous husbands. But, in the perversity that Jesus speaks of – is it the disciples he means, or the father of the child who perhaps doubted? Why is it that Jesus has to explain that “Fasting” (a work) is required in addition to faith? Or again, what is it about the prayer of Tobit that is tied to the act of burning incense (Fish galls here) which rises as a prayer to God – and an offense to the demon? And yet again, what is it about the spit of Christ in the eyes of the blind – sometimes – and pure faith in others? Are the generation perverse because they do not fast – or do they need to fast because they are perverse?
Before Jesus explains to them what they must do – why is it that didn’t know?

Jesus criticized the faith of seemingly everyone in the world, saying if they had faith the size of a mustard seed, they could move a mountain. Maybe they could move a mountain,
but where can they find faith that moving a mountain is in God’s will? We only get
what we pray for if it is in God’s will, but if God wills something, wouldn’t He just
do it, without someone praying?

Exactly – I have the same question here.

Today is the day of St. Dominic, famous for working to uproot the “Albigensian” heresy. I have never heard of this.

Well, if there are patron saints – I suppose the Albigensian(s) might be considered the patron heretics of euthanasia; Long before St. Thomas spoke of the good of the body in relation to the soul – and the true loss that such a separation represents; St. Dominic already had to go to work against those who had turned evil into the “good” of their own eyes. Rape was the preferred method of bringing people into the world by the Albigensian, and murder for their exit. If you will, it was “feel’s good for me” theology…

First of all, it seems like the devil worked to violently murder true believers in Jesus.
Then, he seemed to move on to create many heresies, and infiltrate the church.
Now it seems like he works to keep us in comfort and entertained, so that we seek
these 2 things before God.

He has done each of these things in the past as well. The Colosseum of Rome was entertainment, and comfort for those watching – an adrenaline addiction to the excitable. The devil simply did murder and entertainment at once.

It was also, I think, Napolean – who threatened a diplomatic bishop with his power; saying something like: “do you not know I have the power to destroy the church?!”
And in faith came the astonishing reply, for the bishop said: “Well, I suppose it’s a thought – but the bishops have been trying to do it for YEARS.”

As the wisdom and proverbial books say: There is nothing new under the Sun – from the surrogate mother “Hagar” to the bought and sold Jewish Priesthood, to the Pagan bishop. There are only so many other-themes (anathema) a person can produce in general.

The church is still here, built on the rock of Peter — as it also was founded on the rock of Abraham and the quarry of Sarah. Moored is the bark of Peter between two pillars; with Saints like Dominic and Francis guided by God to aid her in the turbid waters.

Pax Tecum.

 

[distracted]

So . Maybe they could move a mountain,
but where can they find faith that moving a mountain is in God’s will? We only get
what we pray for if it is in God’s will, but if God wills something, wouldn’t He just
do it, without someone praying?

No. If God wants something in a person’s life but fulfilling His desires requires the free choice of another and that person refuses to do God’s wil… that means the will of God will not be fulfilled in that particular matter. God’s will is thwarted ALL the time in this world… IT is called SIN… and explains why, as Jesus says, most people end up in Hell (paraphrase)… (St Mt 7:13, 20, St Lk 13:23)

First of all, it seems like the devil worked to violently murder true believers in Jesus.
Then, he seemed to move on to create many heresies, and infiltrate the church.
Now it seems like he works to keep us in comfort and entertained, so that we seek
these 2 things before God.

no comment… 'cause so true…

 

[distracted]

Distracted, I meant to tell you, I like the way you give the readings a short title
(Love God above all, Faith that accomplishes miracles, etc.)

hmmm… thanks

what i really don’t like is long, meandering posts… that say the same idea in 3 different ways…

i guess i dislike that 'cause my time is limited… but then, everyone’s time is limited…

only God knows exactly HOW limited…

or is that sounding like Predestination? As you may know, i don’t believe in such things… and no true Catholic does… God does not choose to know what our future choices are going to be… If he did, we would not have total freedom… (Thanks… this reminds me of somethning)…

God bless…

 

[cheeto1]

hmmm… thanks

what i really don’t like is long, meandering posts… that say the same idea in 3 different ways…

i guess i dislike that 'cause my time is limited… but then, everyone’s time is limited…

only God knows exactly HOW limited…

or is that sounding like Predestination? As you may know, i don’t believe in such things… and no true Catholic does… God does not choose to know what our future choices are going to be… If he did, we would not have total freedom… (Thanks… this reminds me of somethning)…

God bless…

Sometimes I don’t read posts that are too long for me, but then again, sometimes
when someone says something 3 different ways, it’s only the 2nd or even the 3rd
that makes sense to me, and then only because the 1st has made me more
receptive…

I like your titles because they tell me in a very few words what you thought of the
reading.

I do believe we are predestined for heaven. It is our true home, and we are
predestined for our good works here that God has all picked out for us to do.
But, just like Simba the little lion that ran away to the land of Hakuna Matata,
we too can run away from our predestination. It is we who must choose to
come back and take our rightful place in His kingdom.

 

[cheeto1]

Moored is the bark of Peter between two pillars;

I enjoyed your whole post. You know many things that you have the ability to
connect. This line I can’t figure out though. What does it mean?

I once saw Mother Teresa in a documentary calming a little girl whom no one else
could calm. If she could not feel the presence of God in that moment, I believe that
she suffered from lack of sleep. I believe that she got up too early and went to bed
too late repeatedly, and that’s what caused it. I wish everyone would know it’s not a
sin to sleep when you’re tired… We all need sleep.

I like your question on the fasting, and I think they need to fast just because they are
not God, and this kind only leaves with fasting. They didn’t know, because this is
the first time they encountered this kind.

 

[Huiou_Theou]

I enjoyed your whole post. You know many things that you have the ability to
connect. This line I can’t figure out though. What does it mean?

It’s a bit anachronistic, but in the 1800’s Don Bosco had a dream which was turned into art. In the time of Sts. Francis and Dominic, the church was in quite a bit of decay – and they were the ones who were the focus of a renewal at that time.
Pillars are the things which hold the roof up on a building/church and also were in Don bosco’s vision – Peter is called a pillar in scripture.

I was looking at Don bosco’s picture and thinking that the same thing applied in the day of St. Dominic, who upheld the Rosary – and francis who rebuilt the church.
These two saints were pillars which steadied the church (symbolized by the ship) at a time of crisis.

 

[cheeto1]

“A picture’s worth a thousand words”
Thank you. You could see the picture you were describing…
also, I didn’t know that bark meant ship

 

[distracted]

I do believe we are predestined for heaven. .

thanks for bringing up this interesting point… Have you been to that thread about predestination? they could use some hlep over there, i think… I think it’s called Why would anyone belive this? (Non-C Rel)

anyway… you are right… we are predestined, at birth, to be with God in Heaven when we die… and all along the way of our lives, we have opportunities for good and also for evil… Somerwhere inside, all us knows the truth, or at least we know it when we hear it… and we definitely need to hear it… which is why i go to Mass OFTEN as possible. Learning the Word of God is the about most helpful thing a person can do to make his life better… (the Mass, etc) something i didn’t know when i was veyr young…

so i guess you could say those who end up in Hell missed their destination… took a wrong turn on the freeway… werent paying attention to the signs along the way…

but even that doesn’t say it because… it is not the fault of the highway crew that puts up the signs… or anyone else… its a matter of a person seeing the signs and thinking… I don’t want to go There… it would be more fun - for now - to go… elsewhere… Delayed gratification doesn’t mean much to those kind i gues…

 

[distracted]

It’s a bit anachronistic, but in the 1800’s Don Bosco had a dream which was turned into art. In the time of Sts. Francis and Dominic, the church was in quite a bit of decay – and they were the ones who were the focus of a renewal at that time.

http://bp3.blogger.com/_0rZgxLEmZdQ/SBICOkZVQ0I/AAAAAAAAAA4/QRfGLNUTvNc/s320/Boscovision.jpg

technically, i don’t think its the Church tht is -or ever was in decay… The Church is fine… its the people IN the Church who are in decay… which kinda amounts to the same thing… i guess… because higher-ups in the Church, when they are in “decay” … the whole Church suffers… :crying:uch:

i feel the presence of evil even when i am in the Real Presence of Christ…

in a perfect world it wouldn’t be like that… but … as you know…

 

[cheeto1]

i feel the presence of evil even when i am in the Real Presence of Christ…

I’m sorry.
“resist the devil and he will flee from you…”
just because evil is real, doesn’t mean we have to make things pleasant for it…

 

[distracted]

I’m sorry.
“resist the devil and he will flee from you…”
just because evil is real, doesn’t mean we have to make things pleasant for it…

i usually understand you…

but uh…

huh???