Sunday, October 30, 2016


Amazing grace! How sweet the sound!


31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C (30 October 2016)

1st Reading


Though many are strong, you alone always overcome. And who will withstand the strength of your arm? For, like a tiny grain on a scale, just so is the world before you, and like a drop of dew before dawn, which descends upon the earth. But you are merciful to all, because you can do all, and you dismiss the sins of man because of repentance.

For you love all things that are, and you hate nothing of the things you have made; for you would not have created or established anything that you hated. For how could anything endure, except by your will? Or what, having been called by you not to exist, would be preserved? Yet you spare all things, because they are yours, O Lord, who loves souls. 

O how good and gracious, Lord, is your spirit in all things!
Therefore, those who wander afield, you correct, and, as to those who sin, you counsel them and admonish them, so that, having abandoned malice, they may believe in you, O Lord. 
Wisdom 11:22 - 12:2

Lesson: The Almighty created the universe, yet each one of us is always on his mind. Such is the unending love of the creator for his creatures. Everything he creates is perfect, but he knows how weak we are and that we easily fall into sin. So he chastises us to draw us back to him. The Lord loves souls and will doggedly pursue us until our last breath.

Meditation:

Whom wilt thou find to love ignoble thee,
  Save Me, save only Me?
All which I took from thee I did but take,
  Not for thy harms,
But just that thou might’st seek it in My arms.
  All which thy child’s mistake
Fancies as lost, I have stored for thee at home:
  Rise, clasp My hand, and come!’
  Halts by me that footfall:
  Is my gloom, after all,
Shade of His hand, outstretched caressingly?
  ‘Ah, fondest, blindest, weakest,
  I am He Whom thou seekest!

Hound of Heaven by 
Francis Thompson



Amazing Grace

by John Newton


Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)
That sav'd a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears reliev'd;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believ'd!

Thro' many dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come;
'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promis'd good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures.

Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease;
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who call'd me here below,
Will be forever mine.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’d first begun.
Scriptural texts: Ronald L. Conte Jr., translator and editor: The SacredBible, Catholic Public Domain Version, Original Edition.
Song retrieved from GodSongs.net..
____________________

Books

Here is Psalm 21 from my book, "Praying the Psalms for the Unborn Child."


Psalm 21

Praise for Deliverance.
The Resurrection and Ascension
1O LORD, in Your strength the king will be glad,
And in Your salvation how greatly he will rejoice!
2You have given him his heart's desire,
And You have not withheld the request of his lips.
3For You meet him with the blessings of good things;
You set a crown of fine gold on his head.
4He asked life of You,
You gave it to him,
Length of days forever and ever.
5His glory is great through Your salvation,
Splendor and majesty You place upon him.
6For You make him most blessed forever;
You make him joyful with gladness in Your presence.
7For the king trusts in the LORD,
And through the lovingkindness of the Most High he will not be shaken.
8Your hand will find out all your enemies;
Your right hand will find out those who hate you.
9You will make them as a fiery oven in the time of your anger;
The LORD will swallow them up in His wrath,
And fire will devour them.
10Their offspring You will destroy from the earth,
And their descendants from among the sons of men.
11Though they intended evil against You
And devised a plot,
They will not succeed.
12For You will make them turn their back;
You will aim with Your bowstrings at their faces.
13Be exalted, O LORD, in Your strength;
We will sing and praise Your power.
The Church praises the Father (Lord) for the victory of Jesus (king) in procuring our redemption (salvation) (21:1) The Father heard His intense prayers in the Garden of Olives and answered them (20:2). Jesus obtained that we be granted eternal life in heaven (20:4)35 and the Father gloriously crowned Him as King of all creation (20:3,5). He will reign forever (20:6) and, supported by the Father (lovingkindness), will relentlessly root out evil wherever it hides and destroy it (20:7-12). And we will praise Jesus for His wondrous deeds (20:13).

Prayer for life: Heavenly King, we celebrate Your great victory over the devil and his angels. May we be instruments of Your will in exposing the evil of abortion and utterly destroy it wherever we find it. May our efforts to bring about a universal awe and respect for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death bring You praise forever and ever. Amen.

Have a blessed day!
John



35 Reardon, Patrick. Christ in the Psalms. Ben Lomond, CA: Conciliar Press, 2000. 39. Print.

Scripture (Psalms 1-21) taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Copyright © 2010 by John P. Gross. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this material must be done in its entirety with the copyright notice intact. This book is not for sale, but is offered to the public free of charge in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary and for the glory of God.

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