Bishop Barron's Daily Gospel Reflection Friday, December 2, 2016

Friday, December 2, 2016

1st Week in Advent, Year I

Matthew 9:27-31

Friends, today’s Gospel passage celebrates the faith of two blind men.To have faith is—to use the current jargon—to live outside of the box, risking, venturing, believing the impossible. When we remain in the narrow confines of our perceptions, our thoughts, or our hopes, we live in a very cramped way. We become closed off to the possibility that sometimes, the power of faith is manifested in spectacular and immediately obvious ways. When someone consciously and confidently opens himself to God, acting as a kind of conduit, the divine energy can flow. Faith allows someone to live in detachment from all of the ups and downs of life. In the language of St. Ignatius of Loyola: “Lord, I don’t care whether I have a long life or a short life, whether I am rich or poor, whether I am healthy or sick.” Someone that lives in that kind of detachment is free, and because they are free, they are powerful. They are beyond the threats that arise in the context of this world. This is the source of dynamis, of real power.

MONDOWEISS

 

https://shar.es/18cmmf

 

‘Make this my dream as well’ — in historic appearance, Palestinian offers one-state vision to a NY temple

 

http://mondoweiss.net/2016/11/historic-appearance-palestinian/ 

Perspectives: Quo Vadis Turkey?

Perspectives: Quo Vadis Turkey?

GOP out to woo the Asian-American Voter | Leon Hadar | Pulse | LinkedIn

GOP out to woo the Asian-American Voter | Leon Hadar | Pulse | LinkedIn

Trump Tower and the Militarization of Urban Public Space

Trump Tower and the Militarization of Urban Public Space

Tomgram: Engelhardt, The Most Dangerous Country on Earth

Tomgram: Engelhardt, The Most Dangerous Country on Earth 

http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176216/tomgram%3A_engelhardt%2C_the_most_dangerous_country_on_earth/#more

Top Trump Adviser Has Shifting Views on Russia, Eurasia

December 1, 2016, by Joshua Kucera

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/81511

President-elect Donald Trump's top national security adviser has expressed a variety of contradictory opinions about affairs in the former Soviet Union, making it difficult to assess what policies the next White House administration may pursue in the region.
Trump has appointed Michael Flynn, a retired three-star general and former top intelligence official, as his national security adviser. Flynn has been Trump's closest foreign policy adviser since early in the presidential campaign. Other key posts like the heads of the Pentagon and State Department have yet to be named, but Flynn seems to enjoy a high level of Trump's trust and appears likely to be the most influential White House voice on foreign policy.
Flynn, as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency from 2012-4, was obliged to give an annual tour d'horizon of the perceived military threats to the U.S., but these tended to reflect Washington conventional wisdom. After being fired from that job, an unleashed Flynn became significantly more extreme -- and erratic -- in his views.

Trump the Predictable - FPIF

Trump the Predictable - FPIF

FBI gains expanded hacking powers after lawmakers' attempts to block fail

FBI gains expanded hacking powers after lawmakers' attempts to block fail

One leading senator called the expansion in powers 'one of the biggest mistakes in surveillance policy in years'.http://www.zdnet.com/article/fbi-gains-expanded-hacking-powers-after-congress-attempt-to-block-fails/?loc=newsletter_missed_content&ftag=TRE17cfd61&bhid=25151283725937532891160407260705

May Blessings Overflow

 

May Blessings Overflow

http://www.crs-blog.org/may-blessings-overflow/?utm_source=crs-briefing-email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=crs-briefing-2016-12

The Cure For Entitlement

http://ascensionpresents.com/video/the-cure-for-entitlement/?mc_cid=252cdeb713&mc_eid=2bb902f84a

resize video Advent: More Than A Chocolate Calendar

resize video

Advent: More Than A Chocolate Calendar

http://ascensionpresents.com/video/advent-more-than-a-chocolate-calendar/?mc_cid=252cdeb713&mc_eid=2bb902f84a

What Happens When the Next Generation Isn’t Taught the Bible?

http://biblestudyforcatholics.com/teach-next-generation-well/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=teach-next-generation-well&utm_source=Ascension+Press&utm_campaign=5c8c103e52-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e09e12a778-5c8c103e52-351387457&mc_cid=5c8c103e52&mc_eid=2bb902f84a

Jeff Cavins:The Second Sunday of Advent

http://biblestudyforcatholics.com/second-sunday-advent/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=second-sunday-advent&utm_source=Ascension+Press&utm_campaign=5c8c103e52-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e09e12a778-5c8c103e52-351387457&mc_cid=5c8c103e52&mc_eid=2bb902f84a

Jeff Cavins shares how St. John the Baptist’s message for the Second Sunday of Advent can help us prepare for the coming of Christ. The readings are:
First Reading: Isaiah 11:1-10
Responsorial Psalm – Psalms 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17
Second Reading – Romans 15:4-9
Alleluia – Luke 3:4, 6
Gospel – Matthew 3:1-12

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