the fruit of obedience

Intercessors Of The Lamb

The third mark of the Church is catholic. That means that it is universal. God is saying, “I want My house to be a house of prayer for all nations, for everyone.” This is what we are called to do. Wisdom is instructing her children! This mark of the Church, this catholicity, comes out of the third pillar of contemplation, which is prayer itself. Prayer, if we are faithful to it, will always produce the fruit of obedience – always. It is out of prayer that we are able to do whatever He tells us. Why? Because it is in prayer that we are listening and receiving whatever He says. It is in prayer that we receive the strength to live it out. This is why He said, “A body You have prepared for Me. Behold, I come to do Your will.” He is saying that to us through our intercession as we prepare the way for Him throughout the Church, throughout the world. “A body you have prepared for Me,” out of our own silence, our own solitude, our own prayer, and our own penance. “A body you have prepared for Me,” so that He can continue coming and dwelling within people and living out the Father’s perfect will. That is always the victory over satan. That is always the maternal “yes” over the “no.” Everything becomes “yes” for intercessors. Everything is, “Yes Lord!” It brings grace, not only to us but also, to others. The theological gift that comes forth in this pillar of prayer, and this universal mark of the Church, is love – love. Love reaches its perfection through obedience. Jesus does not want just our word, “yes.” It is those who do the will of God that He seeks. This will bring forth tremendous love. Obedience, you might say, is like love in action. It is the proof in the pudding. It is the proof that we do love. Prayer, in turn, becomes the fruit of obedience.

Universalis: Office of Readings

Universalis: Office of Readings:
Colossians 1:1 - 14

"Epaphras, who taught you, is one of our closest fellow workers and a faithful deputy for us as Christ’s servant, and it was he who told us all about your love in the Spirit.
That will explain why, ever since the day he told us, we have never failed to pray for you, and what we ask God is that through perfect wisdom and spiritual understanding you should reach the fullest knowledge of his will. So you will be able to lead the kind of life which the Lord expects of you, a life acceptable to him in all its aspects; showing the results in all the good actions you do and increasing your knowledge of God."

Let us not fail to pray for one another, so that we all may reach the fullest knowledge of God's will.

USCCB - (NAB) - December 29, 2007

USCCB - (NAB) - December 29, 2007:

"The way we may be sure that we know Jesus
is to keep his commandments.
Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not keep his commandments
is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
But whoever keeps his word,
the love of God is truly perfected in him.
This is the way we may know that we are in union with him:
whoever claims to abide in him ought to walk just as he walked."

Prayer for Today: Dear Jesus, may we come to know You fully. First through the Church that You left behind and then through the Scriptures that came from it. May our love and desire for knowledge of Your commandments grow as our love for You grows.

DECOLORES

full lyrics here:


"Joyfully, joyfully we live in god's friendship because he has willed it.
Faithfully, faithfully we will slake the great thirst of christ the immortal.
Joyfully, joyfully we will bring to our savior a harvest of souls.
Pouring outward the light from within the grace of our god his infinite light.
Pouring outward the light from within the grace of our god his infinite light.

Missionaries, missionaries of christ with his courage determined to conquer.
Cursillistas, cursillistas who don't pay attention to human opinion.
Let the cowards, let the cowards deride us and taunt for it is the truth;
That they really desire the pleasure of being in grace, in colors with us.
That they really desire the pleasure of being in grace, in colors with us."

craving Truth

Intercessors Of The Lamb:

"We begin to crave this divine truth, and once we start receiving His truth - and I say truth because God is truth and everything He says to us, everything that is infused into us, is truth - the other beautiful fruit here is that we begin to see the lies that we didn’t see before. We begin to see the lies that we were raised with. We begin to see the lies of the world, maybe in our own families, in our own culture. Maybe we don’t even know the difference between a lie and truth until this knowledge, this pure wisdom, this understanding of God begins to enlighten our minds and we begin to know. It’s a grace. It’s a gift from God."

video

Universalis: Office of Readings

Universalis: Office of Readings:

"Pharaoh then gave his subjects this command: ‘Throw all the boys born to the Hebrews into the river, but let all the girls live’."

Enlighten the minds of all leaders Lord, so that the killing of the innocents will stop. Bring Your Light and Truth into the heart of all Your people so that a new era may enter...one which has at its basis the respect for all human life.

USCCB - (NAB) - December 28, 2007

USCCB - (NAB) - December 28, 2007:

"God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.
If we say, “We have fellowship with him,”
while we continue to walk in darkness,
we lie and do not act in truth.
But if we walk in the light as he is in the light,
then we have fellowship with one another,
and the Blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin."

Prayer for Today: Lord, may we be illumined by Your Light and persevere in walking in truth. May we learn to love the Light more then the Darkness. May we in turn be a source of Light for our family and friends as He shines His Light through us...even if at first attempt they shield their eyes and turn from us.

A Consolation

Live your Catholic faith

Your Catholic faith is a public thing. It is not meant to be left behind when you leave home (ccc2472). But be forwarned: Being a public Catholic involves risk and loss. You will find some doors closed to you. You will lose some friends. You will be considered an outsider. But, as a consolation, remember our Lord's words to the persecuted: "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven" (Matt. 5:12).

SING FOR JOY (video)

covenant relationship

Intercessors Of The Lamb:

"In Isaiah 42:67, God said, “I have formed you.” God has formed us and He is continuing to form us. “I have formed you as a covenant.” You become the covenant now, “to open the eyes of the blind, to bring the prisoners out from confinement”, out from the dungeons or from wherever they are living in darkness. This is New Covenant ministry at its best. In John 17, Jesus said, “I have given you the glory that the Father has given to Me. I have prayed, ‘Father, that they may be one, as we are one.’” That’s covenant. “You, Father, in me and I in you and I in them,” one totally in this Trinitarian love. Jesus has called us into this relationship, to be totally, literally, in love, dwelling in the full presence of love in this New Covenant relationship. All this I, too, say to you today that His joy may truly, truly be in you, so that your joy will always be complete.

Excerpt from Mother Nadine’s “New Covenant,” Come Higher Friends conference, Omaha, NE, 2004."

Universalis: Office of Readings

Universalis: Office of Readings:

"The just will rejoice and hope in the Lord:
the upright in heart will give him glory."

USCCB - (NAB) - December 27, 2007

USCCB - (NAB) - December 27, 2007:

"We are writing this so that our joy may be complete."

Prayer for Today: Show us Lord how we need nothing but You in order to have complete joy. If we focus on the world around us, there is so little to be happy about...but if we keep our focus on You, we can't help but to rejoice! Bless us with joy today!

Prayer Request

Could you please keep my dad in your prayers. He was hospitalized on Christmas Eve with congestive heart failure due to a hardened heart valve. He has a lot of fluids and it is making it very uncomfortable for him to sleep...he can't lie back and has been sleepin up in a chair for a while now. I'm praying for some comfort and peace for him.

Also Roy's cousin(in law)Joe who was diagnosed with stomach cancer over the Summer and has been receiving chemo treatment will have his cat scan on Friday to determine where things stand. Our God is able! Let us pray for the Lord to pour down His grace on Joe and his family and for that tumor to completly disappear.

Thank you!

"Mary's Boy Child/ Oh My Lord" (video)

joy

Medjugorje Graces: ANNUAL APPARITION TO JAKOV ON DECEMBER 25TH 2007: "'Dear children! Today, in a special way I call you to become open to God and for each of your hearts today to become a place of Jesus’ birth. Little children, through all this time that God permits me to be with you, I desire to lead you to the joy of your life. Little children, the only true joy of your life is God. Therefore, dear children, do not seek joy in things of this earth but open your hearts and accept God. Little children, everything passes, only God remains in your heart. Thank you for having responded to my call.'"

Sing a New Song(a fun video)

Universalis: Morning Prayer (Lauds)

Universalis: Morning Prayer (Lauds):
"Psalm 149
The saints rejoice

Sing a new song to the Lord, his praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Let Israel rejoice in its maker, and the sons of Sion delight in their king.
Let them praise his name with dancing, sing to him with timbrel and lyre,
for the Lord’s favour is upon his people, and he will honour the humble with victory."

USCCB - (NAB) - December 26, 2007

USCCB - (NAB) - December 26, 2007:

"When they hand you over,
do not worry about how you are to speak
or what you are to say.
You will be given at that moment what you are to say.
For it will not be you who speak
but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you."

Prayer for Today: Lord, may we be more open to having You speak through us.

USCCB - (NAB) - December 25, 2007

USCCB - (NAB) - December 25, 2007:

"And the Word became flesh
and made his dwelling among us,
and we saw his glory,
the glory as of the Father’s only Son,
full of grace and truth."

Merry Christmas!