The House That Will Stand

 A House of Lies

14 Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers, who rule this people in Jerusalem! 

15 Because you have said, "We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we have an agreement; when the overwhelming scourge passes through it will not come to us; for we have made lies our refuge and in falsehood we have taken shelter." 

16 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am laying in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: 'He who believes will not be in haste.' 17 And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plummet; and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and waters will overwhelm the shelter." 

18 Then your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; when the overwhelming scourge passes through you will be beaten down by it. 19 As often as it passes through it will take you; for morning by morning it will pass through, by day and by night; and it will be sheer terror to understand the message. 

20 For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on it, and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in it. 21 For the LORD will rise up as on Mount Perazim, he will be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon; to do his deed--strange is his deed! and to work his work--alien is his work! 

22 Now, therefore, do not scoff, lest your bonds be made strong; for I have heard a decree of destruction from the Lord GOD of hosts upon the whole land.

Isaiah 28:14-22

A Song of Ascent

3“I will not enter the house where I live,a nor lie on the couch where I sleep;

4I will give my eyes no sleep, my eyelids no rest,

5Till I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.”

6“We have heard of it in Ephrathah;* we have found it in the fields of Jaar.*

7Let us enter his dwelling; let us worship at his footstool.”b

8“Arise, LORD, come to your resting place,c you and your mighty ark."
Psalm 132: 3 -- 8


You must hope because God's goodness is immense.
-St. Pio of Pietrelcina

David's Songs of Ascent: A 5-Part Sequence

 Psalm 130 - A Prayer for Pardon and Mercy

Psalm 131 - In Quiet Stillness, A Humble Trust in God

Psalm 132 - A Covenant with God, To Live in His House

Psalm 133 - A Vision of Blessed Community

Psalm 134 - At Night, the Watchmen Remember God

Consecration Day - The Feast of the Assumption

 

Marian Consecration Day 33 - A Prayer

 I, knowing that I am a repentant sinner, renew and ratify today in your hands, O Immaculate Mother, the vows of my baptism. I renounce Satan and resolve to follow Jesus Christ even more closely than before.

Mary, I give you my heart. Please set it on fire with love for Jesus. Make it always be attentive to His burning desire for love, His unceasing thirst for souls. Keep my heart in your most pure Heart, that I may love Jesus and the members of His Body with your own perfect love.

Mary, I entrust myself totally to you: my body and soul, my goods, both interior and exterior, and even the value of all my good actions. Please make of me, of all that I am and have, whatever most pleases you. Let me be a fit instrument in your immaculate and merciful hands for bringing the greatest possible glory to God. If I fall, please lead me back to Jesus. Wash me in the blood and water that flow from His pierced side and help me never to lose my trust in this Fountain of Love and Mercy.

With you, O Immaculate Mother – you who always do the will of God – I unite myself to the perfect consecration of Jesus as he offers himself in the Spirit to the Father for the life of the world. Amen

Marian Consecration Day 32 - John Paul II: Mother, Entrustment, Mercy

I do not wish the soul to consider her sins, either in general or in particular, without also remembering the Blood and the broadness of My mercy, for fear that otherwise she should be brought to confusion. And together with confusion would come the Devil, who has caused it, under color of contrition and displeasure of sin, and so she would arrive at eternal damnation, not only on account of her confusion, but also through the despair which would come to her, because she did not seize the arm of My mercy. This is one of the subtle devices with which the Devil deludes My servants, and, in order to escape from his deceit and to be pleasing to Me, you must enlarge your hearts and affections in My boundless mercy with true humility. You know that the pride of the devil cannot resist the humble mind, nor can any confusion of spirit be greater than the broadness of My good mercy, if the soul will only truly hope therein.

St. Catherine of Siena

Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena (p. 94)

Marian Consecration Day 31 - Mother Teresa: Thirst, Heart, Covenant

Marian Consecration Day 30 - Kolbe: Mystery, Militia, Love