Celestine Designs and Media

MEMORIAL OF SAINT MARIA FAUSTINA KOWALSKA, Apostle of Divine Mercy FIRST READING “They perceived the grace that was given to me.” GALATIANS 2: 1 - 2, 7 - 14 Brethren: After fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. I went up by revelation; and I laid before them (but privately before those who were of repute) the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, lest somehow I should be running or had run in vain.  But on the  contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just  as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel  to the circumcised (for he who worked through Peter for the mission to the circumcised worked through me also for the Gentiles), and when they perceived the grace that was given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised; only they wou...

MEMORIAL OF SAINT JEROME, Priest and Doctor of the Church FIRST READING Have you ever commanded the morning, and entered into the springs of the sea? JOB 38: 1, 12 - 21; 40: 3 - 5 The Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind: “Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place, that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it? It is changed like clay under the seal, and it is dyed like a garment.  From the wicked their light is withheld, and their uplifted arm is broken. Have you entered into the springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of the deep? Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness? Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?  Declare, if you know all this. “Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of darkness, that you may take it to its territory and that you may discern the paths to its home? You know, for yo...

TWENTY-SIXTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR C FIRST READING "How can a man be just before God? ” JOB 9: 1 - 12, 14 - 16 Job answered his friends: “Truly I know that it is so: But how can a man be just before God? If one wished to contend with him, one could not answer him once in a thousand times.  He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength — who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded? — he who removes mountains, and they know it not, when he overturns them in his anger; who shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble; who commands the sun, and it does not rise; who seals up the stars; who alone stretched out the heavens, and trampled the Waves of the sea; who made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the chambers of the south; who does great things beyond understanding, and marvellous things without number.  Behold, he passes by me, and I see him not; he moves on, but I do not perceive him. Behold, he snatches away; who can hinder him? Who will s...

MEMORIAL OF SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL, Priest FIRST READING “Why is light given to him that is in misery?” JOB 3: 1 - 3, 11 - 17, 20 - 23 Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. And Job said: “Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night which said, ‘A man-child is conceived.’ Why did I not die at birth, come forth from the womb and expire? Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should suck? For then I should have lain down and been quiet; I should have slept; then I should have been at rest, with kings and counsellors of the earth who rebuilt ruins for themselves, or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver. Or why was I not as a hidden untimely birth, as infants that never see the light? There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest. Why is light given to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul, who long for death, but it comes not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures; who rejoic...

You are not alone. People felt the same even in biblical times. Psalm 31:10 For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my misery, and my bones waste away. Psalm 116:3 The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish Luke 10:41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her.” What God Says Joshua 8:1 And the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear or be dismayed" Jeremiah 31:13  I will turn their mourning into joy, I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow. Philippians 4:6-7 Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. John 14:1 “Let not you...