John 14:7-14 & A Prayer For Strength To Keep Going

Gregory Mussmacher, A Prayer For Strength To Keep Going
Most Precious Lord Jesus, Gentle and Wonderful God, Truly Awesome and Ever-present Holy Spirit, Precious Lord Jesus, I love you.
Thank you for this time of worship and reflection.
Thank you for these moments we spend together as I seek your love and strength.
I love you Lord.
I need your strength to keep going in this present hour and in the days ahead.
I thank you for your sacrifice for me on the Cross.
From your sacrifice, knowing what you did for me, I draw strength and power to face the daily grind of my life.
During the coming days I will need your strength to do your will and to give your love to people who do not know you.
Help me find your strength to keep going so I can let your Light and Love shine out to others.
In your presence, I find my purpose for living even when I am weak.
In your kingdom, I am called to be your mature child upon this sphere.
Help me as I try to live out my faith no matter what I must face.
Touch the lives and hearts of everyone I pray for each day.
If you must make a choice between touching others or touching me, let others be touched before me.
All these things I humbly pray in the name of my most Blessed Lord Jesus Christ, my Mighty God, and my Ever-present Holy Spirit upon whom I can rely.
Amen!!!

Daily Reading & Meditation
Saturday (5/9): "Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied"
Scripture: John 14:7-14

7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; henceforth you know him and have seen him." 8 Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied." 9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, `Show us the Father'? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me; or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves. 12 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son; 14 if you ask anything in my name, I will do it.”

Meditation: What’s the greatest thing we can aim for in this life? – to know God. What is the best thing we can possess in this life, bringing more joy, contentment, life and happiness, than anything else? – knowledge of God. Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me” (Jeremiah 9:23-24). One of the greatest truths of the Christian faith is that we can know the living God. Our knowledge of God is not simply limited to knowing something about God, but we can know God personally. The essence of Christianity, and what makes it distinct from Judaism and other religions, is the personal knowledge of God as our Father.

Jesus makes it possible for each of us to personally know God as our Father. To see Jesus is to see what God is like. In Jesus we see the perfect love of God – a God who cares intensely and who yearns over men and women, loving them to the point of laying down his life for them upon the Cross. Jesus is the revelation of God – a God who loves us unconditionally – without reservation, unselfishly – for our sake and not his, and perfectly – without neglecting or forgetting us even for a brief moment. Jesus promises that God the Father will hear our prayers when we pray in his name. That is why Jesus taught his followers to pray with confidence, Our Father who art in heaven ..give us this day our daily bread (Matthew 6:9,11; Luke 11:2-3). Do you pray to your Father in heaven with joy and confidence in his love and care for you?

"Lord Jesus, you fill us with the joy of your saving presence and you give us the hope of everlasting life with God our Father in Heaven. Show me the Father that I may know and glorify him always."

Psalm 19:2-5

2 Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard;
4 yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun,
5 which comes forth like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and like a strong man runs its course with joy.



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God Bless All Teachers

Gregory Mussmacher, God Bless All Teachers

“WHY GOD MADE TEACHERS”
When God created teachers,
He gave us special friends
To help us understand His world
And truly comprehend
The beauty and the wonder
Of everything we see,
And become a better person
With each discovery.
When God created teachers,
He gave us special guides
To show us ways in which to grow
So we can all decide
How to live and how to do
What's right instead of wrong,
To lead us so that we can lead
And learn how to be strong.
Why God created teachers,
In His wisdom and His grace,
Was to help us learn to make our world
A better, wiser place.
Thank you for being such a great teacher and Mommy.
Matthew C. MussmacherSphere: Related Content

Mother Mary, Her Beauty, Page 2

Gregory Mussamcher, O God, Thou hast willed that, at the message of an Angel, Thy Word should take flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary; grant to Thy suppliant people, that we, who believe her to be truly the Mother of God, may be helped by her intercession with Thee. Through the same Christ our Lord. R. Amen.

MARY
Her Beauty, Page 2

A PORTRAIT OF MARY
From the Legion of Mary Handbook

"My Lady is beautiful, beautiful beyond compare; so beautiful that when one has seen her once, one would wish to die so as to see her again; so beautiful that when one has seen her, one can no longer love anything earthly."


--------- St. Bernadette
"St. Epiphanius, quoted by Nicephorus, has left us a charming portrait of the Virgin. This portrait, sketched in the fourth century from traditions now effaced, and from manuscripts which we no longer possess, is the only one which has come down to us.

"The Virgin, according to this bishop, was not tall of stature, though her height was a little above the middle size; her color, slightly bronzed like that of the Sulamite by the sun of her country, had the rich tint of ripe ears of corn: her hair was light, her eyes lively, the pupil being rather of an olive color, her eyebrows perfectly arched and black; her nose, remarkably perfect, was aquiline; her lips rosy; the shape of her face a fine oval; her hands and fingers long. She was utterly full of Divine grace and loveliness; all the Fathers eagerly attest, with one accord, this admirable beauty of the Virgin.

"But it was not to this assemblage of natural perfections that Mary owed the power of her beauty; it emanated from a higher source. St. Ambrose understood it well when he said that this attractive covering was but a transparent veil which let all the virtues be seen through it, and that her soul, the most noble, the most pure that ever was, next to the soul of Jesus Christ, was entirely revealed in her look. The natural beauty of Mary was but the remote reflection of her intellectual and imperishable beauties. She was the most beautiful of women, because she was the most chaste and most holy of the daughters of Eve.

"The greatest propriety reigned in all the actions of the Virgin; she was good, affable, compassionate, and never tired of hearing the long complaints of the afflicted. She spoke little, always to the purpose, and never did an untruth defile her lips. Her voice was sweet and penetrating; and her words had something gracious and consoling which shed calm over the soul. She was the first in watchings, the most exact in fulfilling the divine law, the most profound in humility, the most perfect in every virtue. She was never seen in anger; she never offended, afflicted, or railed at anyone. She was an enemy to pomp, simple in her attire, simple in her manners. Never had she a thought of displaying her beauty, her ancient nobility, or the rich treasures of her mind and heart. Her presence seemed to sanctify all around her, and the sight of her banished the thought of the things of earth. Her politeness was no vain formality, made up of words of falsehood; it was an expansion of universal benevolence which came from the soul. In fine, her look already revealed the Mother of Mercy."---------Orsini: History of the Blessed Virgin

"Identity of blood implies between Jesus Christ and Mary a similarity of formation, of features, of inclinations, of tastes, of virtues; not only because identity of blood very frequently creates such a similarity, but because in Mary's case --------- her maternity being altogether a supernatural fact --------- the effect of overwhelming grace --------- this grace took hold of this more or less general principle of nature and developed it in her in such a manner as to make her the living image and portrait of her divine Son in every way; so that whoever could see her, could admire the most exquisitely formed image of Jesus Christ. This same relation of motherhood established between Mary and her Son an intimacy not only as to intercourse and communion of life, but as regards an interchange of hearts and of secrets; so that she was the mirror reflecting all the thoughts, feelings, aspirations, desires and purposes of Jesus, as He in turn reflected in a more eminent manner, as in an unspotted mirror, the miracle of purity, of love, of devotedness, of immense charity which was the soul of Mary. Mary could, therefore, say with greater reason than the Apostle of the Gentiles; I live, now not I; it is Jesus who lives in me." ---------De Concilio: The Knowledge of Mary


Forward takes you to the Beauty of Christ.Sphere: Related Content

John 14:1-6

Gregory Mussmacher, Our Father
Our Father, Who art in heaven
Hallowed be Thy Name;
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Daily Reading & Meditation
Friday (5/8): “Do not let your hearts be troubled!”
Scripture: John 14:1-6

1 "Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way where I am going." 5 Thomas said to him, "Lord, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?" 6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me."

Meditation: Do you allow any troubles to rob you of God's peace? As much as we try to avoid it, we all inevitably encounter trouble and difficulties we find hard to endure. Jesus knew his disciples would have to face trials and persecution after he left them to return to his Father in heaven. Adversity can make us lose hope and become discouraged, or it can press us closer to God and to his promises. "It is the LORD who goes before you; he will be with you, he will not fail you or forsake you; do not fear or be dismayed" (Deuteronomy 31:8). Just as God went ahead of the Israelites in the wilderness to lead them safely to the promised land, Jesus tells his disciples that he is going ahead to prepare a place for them in God's house – a place of refuge, peace, and security, and everlasting happiness. God's house is never closed nor crowded – there is plenty of room for everyone who believes in God and in his beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The greatest fear in this present life – whether it be the separation and loss of life to a loved one or the threat to one's own life – is put to rest by Jesus' promise that we will live forever with him and the Father in their heavenly home with a great company of saints and angels who will be our friends forever as well.

Do you know the way to the Father's house? Jesus expected his disciples to know where he was going and what their ultimate destination would be as well. Thomas, who was both a doubter and a realist, spoke for all the disciples when he said, "we neither know where you are going nor how we shall get there on our own?" If you have never been to another land or traveled down an unfamiliar road, you naturally want to know what your destination is and how to get there safe and sound. During the middle of the 15 year civil war in Lebanon, at a time when many believers had been isolated and cut off from contact with outside Christians, I attempted to find a way to visit. Since I had never traveled there before, nor spoke the language, I was helpless without a guide. Fortunately a Christian friend from Lebanon met me half-way and personally guided me safely through unfamiliar territory, including some challenging road-blocks and check-points along the way.

Jesus knew that his followers could not find the way to the Father in heaven on their own without his help. In fact, that is why the Father sent his Son into the world on a rescue mission to restore those who were lost and without a guide. Jesus made a statement which only God could make and deliver. Jesus proclaimed: I am the Way. Through Moses and the prophets, God promised to guide his people in a "holy way" so they could walk and live in his peace and blessing. And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way; the unclean shall not pass over it, and fools shall not err therein (Isaiah 35:8). You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. You shall walk in all the way which the Lord your God has commanded you (Deuteronomy 5:32-33). Teach me your way, O Lord; and lead me on a level path (Psalm 27:11).

The Lord Jesus came to fulfill God's promise to bring his people, not simply to a land flowing with milk and honey, but to a restored paradise and new creation where we can dwell with God in perfect peace and unity. That is why Jesus proclaims, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. Jesus does not simply give advice and direction. He personally is the Way, and we cannot miss it. Through his life-giving word and Spirit, Jesus leads and guides us personally every day. The Lord Jesus also is the Truth. Many can say, "I have taught you the truth." Only Jesus can say, I am the Truth. Moral truth cannot be conveyed in words alone; it must be conveyed in example. Jesus embodies the truth in his person. Jesus also is the Life. He not only shows us the path of life (Psalm 16:11); he gives the kind of life which only God can give – abundant life which never fails nor ends. Is there any fear or trouble that keeps you from the perfect peace and happiness of a life surrendered to Jesus Christ?

"Lord Jesus, you fill us with the joy of your saving presence and you give us the hope of everlasting life with the Father in Heaven. Show me the Father that I may always know and glorify him."

Psalm 2:2-11

2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and his anointed, saying,
3 "Let us burst their bonds asunder, and cast their cords from us."
4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the LORD has them in derision.
5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying,
6 "I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill."
7 I will tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to me, "You are my son, today I have begotten you.
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel."
10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the LORD with fear, with trembling



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THE BEAUTY OF MARY'S SPIRITUAL AND PHYSICAL VIRGINITY

Gregory Mussmacher, Hail Mary, full of grace.
Our Lord is with you.
Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb,
Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.

Mother Holy Queen MARY

Her Beauty, Page 1


THE BEAUTY OF MARY'S SPIRITUAL AND PHYSICAL VIRGINITY


We are often accustomed to think about the Viginity and Assumption of Mary mainly in corporal terms. Many perhaps forget that mary wanted to be a virgin and desired, through the virtue of hope, to see the Divinity of her Son with the spiritual eyes of her immortal soul. Do we consider enough, in the person of mary, the splendor of her soul, invisible to the eyes of flesh and yet somehow visible through her smile and tears?


IMMORTAL SOUL AND MORTAL BODY


Each human being is a person composed of an immortal soul and of a mortal body destined, through death, to a glorious resurrection; that is, to a complete transfiguration of the immortal body by the glorified soul. The soul is at the same time the immaterial prinicple of material life and in its spiritual peak has the wonderful power of being able to contact God immediately through acts of willful love. In other words, the human soul situates itself halfway between the eternity of God and the temporal world, able to dominate itself and the world in the measure of its submission to its intimate Creator.

Mary's body never knew sexual pleasure because her soul excluded it for the love of God and mankind. She always exercised, as soon as her reason was able to understand, the virtue of chastity -- that is a rational and voluntary control over her entire psychosomatic human sexuality. We are perhaps surprised to hear such a thing about the Virgin Mary. We have to remember that God never created a non-sexual human being. The distinction of sexes in mankind is the result bot of a non-finalized and blind animal evolution, but of a wise disposition of Divine Providence, of the Eternal Will of the Son of God Who wanted, precisely through this diferentiation, to keep humanity in existence with its own cooperation.

In each human being, sexuality, as all other material and psychological goods, is the object of a choice of Divine Wisdom, Power and Mercy. Each person is a mystery insofar as the human soul is called to the act of beatific vision and as the human body is destined, through death, to immortal life, in its risen condition. So we can say that the physical and psychological aspects of this part of Mary's human personality belongs to the mystery of her person.


CHASTITY AND CHARITY


Through her chastity and virginity, Mary consecrated to her Creator, in a total and absolute way, her human sexuality. She recognized the supreme dominion of God's absolute and eternal Being over her body, over the thoughts, desires, remebrances of her soul. Such a consecration, often renewed, arose from her passionate love for the Heavenly Father and for all mankind. In her, the moral virtue of chastity was totally penetrated by the theological virtue of charity twoards God, each one of us and herself: she loved each and all of us as herself out of pure love for God.

The mysterious and virginal chastity of Mary obliges us, her spiritual children, to reconsider under her protection our own practice of the virtue of chastity in thoughts, desires, looks, words and deeds.Sphere: Related Content

John 13:16-20

Gregory Mussmacher, St. Michael the Archangel
O most merciful and mighty God, your Son Jesus Christ was born of the Blessed Virgin Mary to bring us salvation and to establish your Commonwealth on earth: Grant that Michael and all your angels may defend your people against every evil, and that at the last we may come to that heaven-sent country where your saints for ever sing your praise; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Daily Reading & Meditation
Thursday (5/7): " If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them"
Scripture: John 13:16-20

16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. 18 I am not speaking of you all; I know whom I have chosen; it is that the scripture may be fulfilled, `He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.' 19 I tell you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. 20 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives any one whom I send receives me; and he who receives me receives him who sent me."

Meditation: How do you treat those who cause you grief or harm, especially those who are close to you in some way? In his last supper discourse, Jesus addressed the issue of fidelity and disloyalty in relationships. Jesus knew beforehand that one of his own disciples would betray him. Such knowledge could have easily led Jesus to distance himself from such a person and to protect himself from harm's way. Instead, Jesus expresses his love, affection, and loyalty to those who were his own, even to the one he knew would "stab him in the back" when he got the opportunity. Jesus used a quotation from Psalm 4:9 which describes an act of treachery by one's closest friend. In the culture of Jesus' day, to eat bread with someone was a gesture of friendship and trust. Jesus extends such friendship to Judas right at the moment when Judas is conspiring to betray his master. The expression lift his heel against me reinforces the brute nature of this act of violent rejection.

Jesus loved his disciples to the end and proved his faithfulness to them even to death on the cross. Through his death and resurrection Jesus opened a new way of relationship and friendship with God. Jesus tells his disciples that if they accept him they also accept the Father who sent him. This principle extends to all who belong to Christ and who speak in his name. To accept the Lord's messenger is to accept Jesus himself. The great honor and the great responsibility a Christian has is to stand in the world for Jesus Christ. As his disciples and ambassadors (2 Cor. 5:20), we are called to speak for him and to act on his behalf. Are you ready to stand for Jesus at the cross of humiliation, rejection, opposition, and suffering?

"Eternal God, who are the light of the minds that know you, the joy of the hearts that love you, and the strength of the wills that serve you; grant us so to know you, that we may truly love you, and so to love you that we may fully serve you, whom to serve is perfect freedom, in Jesus our Lord." (Prayer of Saint Augustine)

Psalm 89:2-3,21-27

2 For thy steadfast love was established for ever, thy faithfulness is firm as the heavens.
3 20 I have found my servant David; with my holy oil I have anointed him;
21 my hand shall always remain with him; my arm also shall strengthen him.
22 The enemy shall not outwit him, the wicked shall not humble him.
23 I will crush his foes before him and strike down those who hate him.
24 My faithfulness and steadfast love shall be with him; and in my name his horn shall be exalted.
25 I will set his hand on the sea and his right hand on the rivers.
26 He shall cry to me, 'You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation!'
27 I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.
Thou hast said, "I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant:



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Devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows

Gregory Mussmacher, I wish, O, my Mother, to keep unceasingly before me thy
co-redemption in order to live intimately with thy Heart
that is totally united to the Heart of thy Divine Son.
Fasten me to this Heart by thine own virtues and sorrows.
Protect me always. Amen!!!

Devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows

PRAYER BEFORE A PICTURE OF OUR SORROWFUL MOTHER
O most loving Mother of my Lord Jesus Christ, thou who dost never reject nor despise anyone who turns to thee with a contrite heart nor refuse to console the afflicted, behold, poor and sinful, I draw near to thy holy image with deep devotion, and beseech thee to obtain for me the grace to honor and love thee with all my strength.

O merciful Heart of Mary, let me obtain mercy from thee as so many sinners already have obtained it; for what is thy Heart, O Mary, but a Heart of mercy? How is it possible, then, that grace could be refused to anyone who implores it from this seat of mercy?

Most tender and compassionate Mother, thou knowest how much an afflicted heart is in want of compassion, because the intensity of thy sufferings was so great that all mankind together would have been incapable of supporting it.

Oh, what unutterable bitterness filled thy soul when thou didst contemplate the disfigured form of thy beloved Son, when thou didst receive His mangled and lifeless Body into thy virginal arms, and pressing It tenderly to thy maternal heart, didst embrace It countless times, didst bedew It with a stream of burning tears, and finally didst rest thy agonizing heart on the wounded brow of thy Jesus!

I recall to thy mind this thy inexpressible anguish, and beseech thee to obtain for me the pardon of my sins. O Mary, intercede for me with Jesus, whom thou didst bear in thy arms! O Jesus! O Mary! by your unutterable suffering, have pity on me, a miserable sinner. O dearest Jesus, show to Thy Heavenly Father all the wounds and anguish which Thou didst bear for me! O sweetest Virgin, show Him all the tears which thou didst shed for me! O Son! O Mother! show Him all the agony, all the anguish of heart which you endured for me.

O Mary , I beseech thee, through this most painful mystery of thy dolors, obtain mercy for me from God the Father, and taking the mangled and dead Body of thy beloved Son into thy maternal arms, offer Him to the Eternal Father in the same manner as thou didst once offer Him His pierced Side and thy own broken Heart, His bitter sufferings and thy painful compassion, His and thy burning tears, His and thy sighs, in a word, everything which Jesus and thou suffered upon earth, that, through these same sufferings, thou mayest obtain mercy and pardon for me. Amen.
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Our Sorrowful Mother: Miraculous Image

This picture, somewhat mysterious in its origin, was discovered at the time of the 1918 armistice in the cellar of the boarding school where Berthe Petit, a humble Franciscan Tertiary, had been educated. After the troops had departed one of the Bernardine nuns in putting things in order found a piece of cardboard on which was pasted a pornographic picture and she tore it off to consign it to flames. To her astonishment she found that it covered this beautiful representation of the Blessed Virgin! It seems to combine the art of both the Eastern and the Western Rites. The facial features resemble those of the well known Pieta. Prayer before this picture has brought signal favors.

Confided by Our Lord to Berthe Petit: "Teach souls to love the Heart of My Mother pierced by the very sorrow which pierced Mine." [Dec. 25, 1909]

In Belgium of 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War a special baby girl was born, who was later to become a mystic. She was named Berthe Maria. Before she received any visions from Our Lord, she had received the invisible stigmata: in her humility she had begged that the marks not be made visible. The wounds were very painful for her, especially on Good Friday and other Fridays. She experienced the pains in her hands and feet and side. The worst pain of all was caused by the torment to her head which was like the pain of thorns pressing into her. This pain was so great and constant she slept but rarely.

It was not until she was 39 years old that the indication of her actual mission was made manifest: During Midnight Christmas Mass she saw the wounded Heart of Jesus and close by was the pierced Heart of His Mother. Then she heard these words:

"Cause My Mother's Heart, transfixed by sorrows that rent Mine, to be loved."

"The Heart of My Mother has the right to be called Sorrowful and I wish this title placed before that of Immaculate because she has won it herself. The Church has defined in the case of My Mother what I myself had ordained ---- Her Immaculate Conception. This right which My Mother has to a title of justice, is now, according to My express wish, to be known and universally accepted. She has earned it by her identification with My sorrows; by her sufferings; by her sacrifices and her immolation in Calvary endured in perfect correspondence with My grace for the salvation of mankind . . . " [Sept. 8, 1911]

"It is hearts that must be changed. This will be accomplished only by the Devotion proclaimed, explained, preached and recommended everywhere. Recourse to My Mother under this title I wish for her universally, is the last help I shall give before the end of time." [July 2, 1940]

By Ven. Martin von CochemSphere: Related Content