Friday, Jul 23, 2021
MEMORIAL OF BRIDGET, RELIGIOUS
Love, embodied
It’s great to have a deep connection with another person no matter what kind of relationship it may be. Birgitta Petersson (later known as Saint Bridget of Sweden) found this in Ulf Gudmarsson, whom she married while both were very young. Early on in their relationship they were focused on raising a family of eight with each maintaining a job outside the home. Their relationship and love grew over time with each other and with God. A major bonding experience came when together they made a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, a popular religious destination in northwestern Spain. Years later when Ulf died, Birgitta reportedly said that she had “loved him like my own body.” Take time to strengthen the bonds of your own loving relationships.
TODAY'S READINGS: Exodus 20:1-17; Matthew 13:18-23. “The seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit.” #takefiveforfaith
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Hear the parable of the sower.
The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the Kingdom
without understanding it,
and the Evil One comes and steals away
what was sown in his heart.
The seed sown on rocky ground
is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy.
But he has no root and lasts only for a time.
When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word,
he immediately falls away.
The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word,
but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word
and it bears no fruit.
But the seed sown on rich soil
is the one who hears the word and understands it,
who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”
Matthew 13:18-23
#dailyingodsword
Our Lord has given us his promise that he will stay with us at all times. He is the God of the living. He has overcome evil and death and his love is stronger than any form of death and destruction. That is why I feel that we should continually avoid the temptation of despair and deepen our awareness that God is present in the midst of all the chaos that surrounds us and that that presence allows us to live joyfully and peacefully in a world so filled with sorrow and conflict.
-Henri Nouwen
Happy Feast of St. Mary Magdalene!
THE MAGDALENE'S BLESSING
You hardly imagined
standing here,
everything you ever loved
suddenly returned to you
looking you in the eye
and calling your name.
And now
you do not know
how to abide this ache
in the center
of your chest
where a door
slams shut
and swings open
at the same time,
turning on the hinge
of your aching
and hopeful heart.
I tell you
this is not a banishment
from the garden.
This is an invitation,
a choice,
a threshold,
a gate.
This is your life
calling to you
from a place
you could never
have dreamed
but now that you
have glimpsed its edge
you cannot imagine
choosing any other way.
So let the tears come
as anointing,
as consecration,
and then
let them go.
Let this blessing
gather itself around you.
Let it give you
what you will need
for this journey.
You will not remember
the words—
they do not matter.
All you need to remember
is how it sounded
when you stood
in the place of death
and heard the living
call your name.
© Jan Richardson
FEAST OF MARY MAGDALENE
On the first day of the week,
Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning,
while it was still dark,
and saw the stone removed from the tomb.
So she ran and went to Simon Peter
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,
“They have taken the Lord from the tomb,
and we don’t know where they put him.”
Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping.
And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb
and saw two angels in white sitting there,
one at the head and one at the feet
where the Body of Jesus had been.
And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
She said to them, “They have taken my Lord,
and I don’t know where they laid him.”
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there,
but did not know it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?
Whom are you looking for?”
She thought it was the gardener and said to him,
“Sir, if you carried him away,
tell me where you laid him,
and I will take him.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to him in Hebrew,
“Rabbouni,” which means Teacher.
Jesus said to her,
“Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.
But go to my brothers and tell them,
‘I am going to my Father and your Father,
to my God and your God.’”
Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples,
“I have seen the Lord,”
and then reported what he told her.
John 20:1-18
📷Mary Magdalene closeup from behind the altar over the rock of golgotha in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre #dailyingodsword
On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea.
Such large crowds gathered around him
that he got into a boat and sat down,
and the whole crowd stood along the shore.
And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying:
“A sower went out to sow.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path,
and birds came and ate it up.
Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil.
It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep,
and when the sun rose it was scorched,
and it withered for lack of roots.
Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it.
But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit,
a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
Matthew 13:1-9
🎨The Sower, Vincent Van Gogh
#dailyingodsword
My art studies taught it was the lead on van gohs paint that made him get sick. I am writing the Pope for the annulment paperwork as the San Diego diocese deacons may be under IRS investigation with their wives
Wednesday, Jul 21, 2021
Choose wisely and well
Good preachers know that if they tell a story as part of a sermon, their people are more likely to remember the message. Such preachers take their lead from the master storyteller. Jesus used stories, often parables with a lesson, to help listeners then and now understand what really matters in his Father’s kingdom. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us, “the simple images of the parables . . . confront the hearer with a radical choice (about) entering the kingdom of God.” Do not get lost in the details, but rather see the choice the stories provide. Will you be the seed that grows in good earth? Or will you die among the thorns? Choose love and bear much fruit.
TODAY'S READINGS: Exodus 16:1-5, 9-15; Matthew 13:1-9. “But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit.”
#takefiveforfaith
Young Adults!!!Meet Jose, our musician for the annual young adult adoration and mass on August 15th✨⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Jose Martinez is a devoted husband, father of four, teacher, illustrator, singer songwriter, and founder of Sacred Heart Narratives. He produced a self-titled EP, Sacred Heart Narratives, inspired by his home parish Sacred Heart Mission, Heber CA. He’s been a music minister for 17 years, now. Born and raised in the Imperial Valley, he hopes to evangelize Jesus’ teachings through his art, music, and podcast efforts! Viva Cristo Rey!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Follow Jose at @sacredheartnarratives 🙌🏼
WELCOME BACK Reception
Sunday, August 8th at 5:00pm
(preceding the 6pm Concert in the Park)
A casual family-friendly gathering simply to celebrate that we are ‘back together again’ and able to enjoy community fellowship in our new parish facilities.
Join us on our beautiful Parish Plaza for a simple self-serve arrangement of charcuterie and fruit/cheese plates with beverages and popsicles for the kids as we thank God for the blessings we enjoy here at Sacred Heart.
Tuesday, Jul 20, 2021
Special needs evoke special support
On this day in 1968, the first Special Olympics took place in Chicago. The brainchild of Eunice Kennedy Shriver—devout Catholic, sister of President John F. Kennedy, and tireless advocate for people with intellectual disabilities. Shriver’s husband, Sargent Shriver—as a Knight of Columbus—encouraged the Knights to support the cause, not only of Special Olympics but of what’s become the Knights’ annual Tootsie Roll Drive to raise funds for people with intellectual disabilities. Visit the National Catholic Partnership on Disability to become a better advocate for people with disabilities and their families.
TODAY'S READINGS: Exodus 14:21—15:1; Matthew 12:46-50. “Whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.” #takefiveforfaith
