Food for the journey (vol 6)

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Prayer of the Week
Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am in distress
My sight is blurred because of my tears.
My body and soul are withering away.
I am dying from grief, my years are shortened by sadness.
Misery has drained my strength, I am wasting away from within.

But I am trusting in you, O Lord, saying "You are my God"
My future is in your hands.
Rescue me from those who hung me down relentlessly.
Let your favor shine on your servant.
In your unfailing love, save me.
-Psalm 31: 9-10, 14-16


From the Saints
"There is very little unusual about the outward life of the Blessed Virgin, or at least the Gospels do not record it. They show her life as very simple and ordinary. What she did and endured might have been done and endured by anyone in her station of life. She visited her cousin Elizabeth just as her other relatives did. Like all her neighbors, she went to Bethlehem to be registered. Because she was poor, she sheltered in a stable. The persecution of Herod drove her from Nazareth, but she returned and lived there with Jesus and Joseph, who worked to earn their daily bread. But what was the bread that nourished the faith of Mary and Joseph? It was the sacrament of the moment -"
-St. Jean-Pierre de Caussade, Abandonment to Divine Providence

From the Catechism
2828 "Give us": The trust of children who look to their Father for everything is beautiful. "He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." He gives to all the living "their food in due season." Jesus teaches us this petition, because it glorifies our Father by acknowledging how good he is, beyond all goodness.

Quote of the Week
Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.
-Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est

Truth
If Christ does not make a difference in your life, you can't make a difference in anyone else's.

Scripture of the Week
Cast your bread upon the waters after a long time you may find it again. Make seven or eight portions, you know not what misfortune may come upon the earth – Ecc 11:1-2

From the Mass
"GO IN PEACE TO LOVE AND SERVE THE LORD."