Interesting readings today. Right in line with the timing of so many messages these days. http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/101113.cfm Reading 1 Jl 1:13-15; 2:1-2 Gird yourselves and weep, O priests! wail, O ministers of the altar! Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God! The house of your God is deprived of offering and libation. Proclaim a fast, call an assembly; Gather the elders, all who dwell in the land, Into the house of the LORD, your God, and cry to the LORD! Alas, the day! for near is the day of the LORD, and it comes as ruin from the Almighty. Blow the trumpet in Zion, sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all who dwell in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming; Yes, it is near, a day of darkness and of gloom, a day of clouds and somberness! Like dawn spreading over the mountains, a people numerous and mighty! Their like has not been from of old, nor will it be after them, even to the years of distant generations. Responsorial Psalm PS 9:2-3, 6 and 16, 8-9 R. (9) The Lord will judge the world with justice. I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart; I will declare all your wondrous deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, Most High. R. The Lord will judge the world with justice. You rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked; their name you blotted out forever and ever. The nations are sunk in the pit they have made; in the snare they set, their foot is caught. R. The Lord will judge the world with justice. But the LORD sits enthroned forever; he has set up his throne for judgment. He judges the world with justice; he governs the peoples with equity. R. The Lord will judge the world with justice. Gospel Lk 11:15-26 When Jesus had driven out a demon, some of the crowd said: “By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons.” Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven. But he knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house. And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons. If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe. But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. “When an unclean spirit goes out of someone, it roams through arid regions searching for rest but, finding none, it says, ‘I shall return to my home from which I came.’ But upon returning, it finds it swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and brings back seven other spirits more wicked than itself who move in and dwell there, and the last condition of that man is worse than the first.” Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
I bought a Kindle a few weeks ago and I download my readings (and the Office) from a US site called , 'Universalis'. http://www.universalis.com/ I find using my kindle at mass far, far better than by breviary, I would recommend anyone to do the same. I am getting the first month free but I think it is only about 19£ a year. It includes everything including t he different prefaces eucharistic prayersl .Also a little commentary on the feast for the day or a mini bio on the saint of the day. It is very little different from Ireland. One little thing I did notice is the the US Conference of Bishops include a specific mention of St Joseph , something I love...in the Eucharsitc prayers. Of course specific Irish saints don't get mentioned but apart from that it is great. I have also downloaded a load of Catholic books, classics from Amazon. At the moment I am reading , 'The life of the Virgin Mary' again by Blessed Catherine Emmerich which is wonderful. She mentions tunnells under the Temple in Jerusalem . No one knew about these, for which Catherine gives great detailed descriptions...but a couple of weeks ago they discovered some of these whilst work was ongoing in the Holy City. http://christiananswers.net/q-abr/abr-a022.html Ezekial 33 …5'He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning; his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning, he would have delivered his life. 6'But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require from the watchman's hand.' 7"Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a message from My mouth and give them warning from Me.…
Thanks for the link to the Universalis programme Padraig, I was looking for the Mass readings for the kindle for a while!
Padraig, have you read any other of Blessed Catherine Emmerich's books. After your comment I just realized I can download Catholic books on my tablet. I downloaded 2 of her books for a mere dollar. But the words are priceless! One is "The Life of the Virgin Mary" and the other one is "The Lowly Life and Bitter Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Blesses Mother together with Mysteries of the Old Testament". The comments about the creation of Adam and Eve and their fall is amazing to read. I'm interested in her vision of the fall of the angels. She wrote that after the angels were cast out of Heaven God wanted to fill their void. So he created Adam and Eve. Their offspring (had they not fallen into sin) would have been created for that void. I believe she also said once the void was filled then the world would no longer need to exist. She also said that if Adam and Eve had lived to create one sinless generation they would have never fallen. If anyone has read her accounts of the Old Testament I would appreciate any insight. God Bless!
I am reading , Emmerich's Life of the Virgin at the moment Bernie. It is very, very long. I read it all last moth and am only half way through. I would not have taken it so seriously but Blessed Cathrine's instruction to find the buried house at Ephesus were so exact. So I take them to be true, At the moment I am reading about the journey off the three wise men to Bethlehem, it goes on and on, fascinating. I believe it all. Have you read Blessed Mary of Agreda's 'City of God'..a life of Our Lady? You can also get it on kindle. I find it too difficult to read anything about the Passion, I could not even watch Mal Gibson's Passion of the Christ. If you go into the religious books section and type in 'Catholic. ' in search you will get 9.5000 books many of them from arcane visionaries. I cannot believe it , it is a treasure trove. I never thought I would get to see them again. I think I have died and gone to heaven.
Here is the one I really recommend, Bernadette, it will take you to heaven and back again: \The best life of the Mother of God I ever read.
I'm interested in Agreda's Mystical City of God for a long time. Is the abridged version worth it or should I read the full version?
I have read Orthodoxy, which is great, and a great case for debate among Christians (between Catholics and Protestants, like the evangelicals so prevalent here in the US that consider Catholics non-saved, non-Christians). My son is battling gnostics and athiests in his generation, who are friends of his. Products of secular culture and public education in the US. I have heard Chesterton's "Everlasting Man" might be good for that audience. Have you read it?
Three books for atheists: Modern Physics and Ancient Faith by Stephen Barr (physicist) The Last Superstition by Edward Feser (philosopher) Atheist Delusions by David Bentley Hart (theologian) The first two authors are Catholic, the last one is Eastern Orthodox
Those books can require some effort though, so it depends on how intellectually serious your son's friends really are.
Thanks. Well he certainly is intellectually serious, and is a recent graduate with a B.A. in History from a good Catholic University. His friends are also students at different schools now that seem to have the desire to engage earnestly in this debate almost every day, but I don't know if they would invest their time to read these works independently. My son usually likes to mine these types of sources for good arguments to cite. They would at least absorb it in that manner. He is also a member on this forum, but doesn't post a lot. I'll let him know he should log in and look at your recommendations here.
I probably did years ago Jon but I confess I can't recall. I always like Chesterton because he can talk so kindly to people without getting their back up ( in this he reminds me of Mark Twain) He never argues for the sake of arguing. I see but Phillip has made some good recommendations. I also notice that kindle has a package of 35 Chesterton books at the one hit. What a deal!!
I would read the full version TGO. In the monastery they had the full four volumes in big huge gold and blue tomes. I read and reread them several times. My novice master, who happened to be a scripture scholar laughed at me for taking them seriously. I can only say this si to miss the point. They set the heart on fire rather than the head. I can only say many folks who are super smart may go to hell but none of us will ever go to hell but no one will ever go to hell for praying too much.. and goodness do these books make you pray. I think that which is a grace stays with us forever and a lot of this book has stayed with me forever. One particularly is the mention and description of the holy angels. For instance the angles , the legion of angels who surround Mary. I love it that there are specific Marian angels with their own badge or sign marking them as Mary's. Also specific mention of some of the events in Mary's life have stayed with me forever. For instance the fact she was persecuted by some of her fellow children when she was a child in the Temple. The difficulty she had with St Joseph when she became pregnant and so on. They make it so easy to pray the rosary. the mysteries become alive. I am so looking forward to reading these again. They are food for the heart rather than the head. But it is our heart in these dark days needs fed, not our head.
By the way, here is one of the Pope's favourite books very arcane, mystical and hard to get...talking about the End of the World: I was amazed they did it. A treasure.
The beautiful thing about reading these books (the little bit I have read so far) is it seems like a soul gets to know and understand God a little better. And when you truly love someone you want to know as much as you can about them. God Bless!
