IF "THE FERVENT PRAYER OF A RIGHTEOUS PERSON IS VERY POWERFUL," HOW MUCH MORE THE PRAYER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, THE MOTHER OF GOD?

"Beloved: Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone in good spirits? He should sing a song of praise. Is anyone among you sick? He should ?summon the presbyters of the Church, and they should pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven.... The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful."  (James 5:13.... 20).

Saturday, 26th February 2022, in the 7th Week in Ordinary Time is the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Brothers and sisters. I have a confession to make:
#1. I believe in Prayer.
#2. I believe in the word of God.
#3. I believe in Miracle.
#4. I surrender everything to God.

Our key Scripture for today asserts that "The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful."
In July 2021, the Lord Jesus healed my sick heart and set me free of worries about every form of sickness. A prayer partner in my Church said Jesus healed me because I am holy. Righteousness and holiness means exactly the same thing in the Bible. Abraham is righteous or holy because he believed the promise God made him. God justified or made Abraham righteous because Abraham believed God. David is righteous or holy because he believed in the promises of God. The Blessed Virgin Mary is righteous or holy because when the Archangel Gabriel announced to her that she will be the Mother of God, Mary thought for a second and said to herself, since the Archangel is from God, he must be a faithful, true and credible messenger. Mary believes and says: "Behold I am the maid servant of the Lord. Let what God has promised be done to me."

July is the month we honor the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ. At end of June 2021, I read the words below of the Blessed Virgin Mary to a mystic the book, IN SINU JESU.

"The Blood of my Son brings purity and healing and new life wherever it flows. Implore the power of the precious Blood over yourself and over all priests. Whenever you are asked to intercede for souls, invoke the power of the precious Blood over them, and present them to the Father covered with the Blood of the Lamb." (Mary, IN SINU JESU pg 37). Since I have known Mary all my life to be a faithful, true and credible witness, I believed her testimony. I prayed for healing for my heart every day in July 2021 and Jesus healed me.

Am I holy in the usual and ordinary meaning of holiness? Ask people who live with me. They will laugh until their ribs ache. How then do I account for the healing? I simply believed the words of a Mother speaking to a son She loves and has shown many favors in the past.

You too can be holy by believing and begging for healing. Do you know another word for BEGGING? HAVE MERCY ON ME. THIS IS WHY THE CATHOLIC CHURCH REPEATS OFTEN IN ITS LITURGIES: "LORD HAVE MERCY ON US."
You can do the same. To read about the Testimony on my healing, click the link below:

http://seekfirst.blogspot.com/2022/01/testimony-of-how-jesus-healed-my-heart.html?m=1

Daily Bible Verse @ Seekfirstcommunity.com

THE SHOEMAKER WILL MAKE SHOES. THE TAILOR WILL MAKE CLOTHES. THE PRIEST WILL MAKE SACRIFICES. A GOOD TREE WILL BEAR GOOD FRUITS.

“A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not pick figs from thornbushes, nor do they gather grapes from brambles." (Luke 6: 39... 45).

Sunday 27th February 2022 in the 8th Week of Ordinary Time.

Everyone will like to bear good fruit and bearing good fruit is what the Christian life is all about. When I think about bearing good fruit for Jesus, I am encouraged by what Jesus teaches: Without Me, you can do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. (Cf John 15: 5). So I become a beggar. "Jesus, you know that without You, I can do absolutely nothing. Help me please! I want to bear good fruit for You."

Remain in Me if you want to bear good fruit. "Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned." (John 15: 5 - 6).

How do we remain in Jesus to bear good and great fruit? How did St Teresa of Kolkata, Mother Angelica of EWTN, Fulton Sheen, etc remain in Jesus and bore good and lasting fruits?
They prayed a lot. They received Holy Communion every day. They go to frequent Confession. Although none of them was a Scripture scholar, they knew the Bible well because they live in the Bible. In one word, they loved Jesus and showed it.

Now that you know this, do the same and you will be blessed.

Daily Bible Verse @ Seekfirstcommunity.com

MARRIAGE AND THE CHURCH WERE PUT ASUNDER BY THE WILL OF MAN. TOO BAD!

"Jesus came into the district of Judea and across the Jordan.......
The Pharisees approached him and asked, “Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?” They were testing him. He said to them in reply, “What did Moses command you?”......
"But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate.”
(Mark 10: 1.... 12).

Friday 25th February 2022 in the 7th Week in Ordinary Time.

“Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?” (Mark 10: 2).

This is the big question in today's Gospel.   Jesus responds:
"But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.  For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother [and be joined to his wife],  and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh."  (Mark 10: 6 - 8).

And then Jesus adds:
"Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate.”  (Mark 10: 9).

Marriage and Holy Orders are two Sacraments of Service in the Church.
Through these Sacraments, married people and clergy, viz: bishops, priests and deacons are equipped by grace to build up the Church.  Both institutions are in dire crisis today.  Less than 40% of married couples who have been married for 35 years or more are still married to the same person.  We can do better because the grace of the Sacraments are there to support fully the state of married life. The grace is not ineffectual. You cannot force the grace on people. God the Father told St Catherine of Siena, Doctor of the Church in her book the DIALOGUE that you cannot force people to go to Heaven.

"The Lord God said: It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suited to him."  (Genesis 2: 18).

The Holy Spirit, the Ultimate Helper walks along us in the Journey of life. He is a shy Spirit and will not force Himself upon us.

Daily Bible Verse @ Seekfirstcommunity.com