June 4
Our Lady of Haut
St.
Francis Caracciolo
Today’s Gospel: Mark 12:28-34
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| Photo created by Google AI Image Creator. |
A scribe walked up to Jesus with a real
question for once.
No trap. No trick. Just a man who
genuinely wanted to know, of all the commandments, which one is the greatest?
Jesus answered without hesitation. Love
God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength. And
love your neighbor as yourself.
The scribe understood, he told Jesus that
loving God and neighbor this way was worth more than every burnt offering and
sacrifice ever made at the Temple. And Jesus looked at him and said something very
beautiful to him.
You are not far from the Kingdom of God.
St. Francis Caracciolo took that step and
never looked back. He spent hours every day before the Blessed Sacrament, so
long and so often that people had to pull him away. He organized his entire
life around one question: how do I love God with everything I have today? He
died kneeling before the tabernacle. Exactly where he wanted to be.
I knelt at an altar in Washington, New
Jersey, in 1983 at the Blue Army Shrine, a little replica chapel of the one in
Fatima, Portugal. I had been going to Mass my whole life as a cradle Catholic.
Dutiful. Faithful enough. But something happened at that altar when I received
communion and made my Consecration to Our Lady that day. The duty dissolved, it
was replaced with desire. I couldn't get enough of our Lord and our Lady after
that. Daily Mass became the center of my entire life. I wouldn’t even eat until
I receive Him first. I did that for many seasons, and if I know I am going to
Mass on a particular day, Jesus first, before any meal. My love for Jesus
exceeds all my own desires, and that's not discipline, it’s love. And love like
that only comes from one place, a heart that finally understands what it's
holding.
Our Lady of Haut is remembered for a
miracle where a dying infant was restored to life just long enough to receive
Baptism. Seventy-five witnesses watched it happen. She went to extraordinary
lengths so that one small soul could receive Jesus. She always has.
Something to sit with today:
If someone watched how you
spend your time and energy this week, would they say you are far from the
Kingdom or not far at all? The way we spend our time, more so in private rather
than in public, reveals the true state of our hearts.
I challenge you to take
your private prayer life to the next level. What does that mean? Pray, asking
the Lord to lead your heart, so that you may deepen your prayer time with Him.
This life goes by very fast, don’t waste it on the things of this earth; instead, focus on Jesus with all your heart, placing Him first in your life.
Rosary Man Jim 🌹
Freely given. Freely
shared.
