January 27, 2018

Jan. 27

January 27, 2018:  Saturday, 3rd week, Ordinary Time
  • 'Ewe lamb' tie bar:  poor man's ewe; "that man is 'you'" (1st reading, 2 Sm 12:7)
  • 'Girl with heart' pin:  "Create a clean heart in me" (psalm)
  • 'Blood drop' pin:  Free me from blood guilt... (psalm)
  • 'Musical note' tie pin:  "Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise." (psalm)
  • 'Boats' tie:  Disciples took Jesus in the boat, and other boats were with him (gospel)
  • Green in shirt:  Ordinary Time season

Your work deserves the gratitude of every citizen because it takes place in the most diverse situations and helps everyone affected.  Your presence alongside immigrants is a prophetic sign, so necessary for our world.  Words from your statues:
Humanity is the call to show compassion to children, the elderly, people not recognized as unique and unrepeatable that remain hidden in the shadow of indifference.
Impartiality:  The Good Samaritan acted impartially, helping the man, not questioning him first.
Neutrality:  You don't take sides with any of the parties in conflicts or disputes.  This contrasts with today’s trend to make distinctions between those who deserve attention and relief and those deemed unworthy.
You're “an international network necessary to coordinate relief efforts and ensure mutual understanding, friendship, cooperation, and lasting peace."  Those who look at others through the lens of friendship, not competition or conflict, build a more just and human world.
Read

    Ewe lambs
  • 2 Sm 12:1-7a, 10-17  Nathan / David:  “A rich man took a poor man's ewe to cook for his guest.” / “He deserves to die.” / “You are the man!  God says the sword shall never depart from you because you took Uriah's wife.” / “I have sinned.” / “The Lord has forgiven you, but the child must die.”  The child became desperately ill, and David begged God for him.
  • Ps 51:12-17  "Create a clean heart in me, O God."  Give me back the joy of your salvation.  Open my lips, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
  • Mk 4:35-41  A squall filled a boat with water.  "We're perishing!"  Jesus rebuked the wind, asked, “Why are you terrified?  Where's your faith?”  They wondered, “Who is he whom even wind and sea obey?”  
Named after 1st reading
Reflect
  • Creighton:  Jesus asked his disciples, “Why are you terrified? Don't you have faith yet?”  Certainly this is a dramatic scene and fear in the midst of a storm at sea is understandable.  When I put off an unpleasant chore or difficult conversation, it's usually rooted in some fear.  If I identify the fear, it takes negative energy out of the situation and reminds me to trust that no matter what happens, God is with me.  Notice which of your habits and actions are rooted in fear, then have faith that God will be with us no matter what.
    Storm on the Sea of Galilee/ Rembrandt
  • Passionist:  Jesus' disciples were awash in fear; he quieted the sea and calmed their fear, but then they seemed more afraid of what he did!  When we're overwhelmed, may we let the Lord of Peace calm us and help us let go of control, recognize our limits, give up our efforts to build walls, open us to new understanding, sit quietly with questions God alone can answer, watch as Jesus calms the sea, and marvel at the peace only God can give.
  • DailyScripture.net:  ""Why are you afraid?"  Jesus' sleeping presence on the sea reveals his disciples' sleeping faith; they were afraid even though their Lord was with them.  The Lord is ever present to us, still asking why we're afraid.  Faith enables us to relate to God with trust and reliance, believing and keeping his word.  If we want to live, grow, and persevere in faith, then it must be nourished with the word of God.  Courage working with faith enables us embrace God's word with confidence and act on it with hope.  The Holy Spirit strengthens our faith and trust and enables us to act with justice and kindness even in the face of opposition.
Posted by at No comments:

January 26, 2018

Timothy and Titus

January 26, 2018:  SS. Timothy and Titus, Bishops

Find 15 connections with today?
Legend below
Listen
For the gospel

Pope Francis
Homily:  Paul generated Timothy with the “folly of preaching.”  The reading also mentions “tears” because Paul preaches with courage, not sweet half-truths.  The announcement of the gospel can't be lukewarm.  Preaching is a 'slap’ that pushes you forward.  Paul describes preaching as "folly"; to say that God became man and then was crucified and rose again has a pinch of folly not to be tempted by mediocrity or half-truths.
Faith is to be transmitted through witness which gives strength to the Word.  People said of the first disciples, “How they love each other.”  In some parishes, many wag about one person or another… and instead of saying, "how they love each other," one could comment on how people speak badly of each other.  How can you transmit faith in an atmosphere spoiled by gossip or slander?  True testimony explained is doing works of charity and asking yourself why others behave or live like they do, not speaking badly of others.  Evil acts as “counter-testimony,” bad testimony; it takes faith away and weakens people.
Paul reminds Timothy his faith first lived in his grandmother and his mother.  Faith is transmitted in the womb of the Church.  The Church’s motherhood is prolonged in women's motherhood.  Are mothers and grandmothers like the ones Paul speaks of, or do they trust that the children will learn when they go to catechism?  I'm sad when I see children who can't make the sign of the Cross because their mothers and grandmothers haven't taught them.  Ask the Lord to teach us to be witnesses and preachers and to teach mothers to transmit the faith.
At ecumenical vespers:  The Israelites sang the “Song of Moses and Miriam” after God saved them from the Egyptians, an event Church Fathers saw as an image of Baptism.  All Christians have passed through the waters of Baptism; and the grace of the Sacrament has destroyed sin and death.  For this reason we sing God’s praise.
My experience binds me to the great story of the salvation of God's people.  Paul's experience of grace led him to seek communion with other Christians.  As soon as we grow in the spiritual life, we understand better that grace brings us together and is to be shared with others.  In recognizing other Christians' baptism, we acknowledge they too have received forgiveness, and God’s grace is at work in them too.  And when differences separate us, we recognize we belong to the same people of the redeemed, the same family of people loved by the Father.
But our growth in the spiritual life is often hard.  When martyrs' blood is shed, they become witnesses of the faith, united in the bond of baptismal grace.  Christians confront challenges that demean human dignity:  flying from conflict and misery, they're victims of human trafficking and other forms of slavery; they suffer hardship and hunger in a world rich in means and poor in love, where inequality continues to grow.  We're called to remember what God has done for us, to help and support one another, and to face challenges with courage and hope, armed only with Jesus and the power of his Gospel.
To CDF:  Your work in recalling the transcendent vocation of the human person and the relationship between reason and truth and goodness, realized through faith in Christ, appears decisive.  To recognize ourselves and God’s plan, we must open up to God's light.  The growth of requests for euthanasia comes from believing people have power over life.  Many value life for its efficiency and productivity instead of its dignity.  But human life possesses a dignity that renders it untouchable.
Many find it difficult to reflect on pain and suffering, life and death, with hope.  You can offer people a trusting hope that can allow them to live well with a confident perspective toward the future.  This gives your mission a pastoral visage.  Authentic pastors don't abandon people to themselves, their disorientation, and their errors, but with truth and mercy bring them back to rediscover their true selves.
To Pontifical Academy for Theology:  Promote a fruitful encounter between faith and the challenges the world poses.  Look ahead, aware of your identity and wish to relaunch your mission.  You serve the Church by promoting faith, supporting Church teaching, and being open to the demands and challenges of culture.  You confront and dialogue to communicate the Gospel in new contexts, impacted by the needs of a suffering humanity and offering the contribution of faith.  Maintain your relationship with other educational institutions and your cultural exchange; it enriches all interlocutors.
Read
1st-century lamp
  • 2 Tm 1:1-8  Paul, Apostle of Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my dear child:  I worship God with a clear conscience and pray for you constantly, recalling your faith.  Stir into flame your gift from God.  God gave us a spirit of power, love, and self-control.  Don't be ashamed of your testimony or of me, but bear your hardships with God-given strength.
  • Ti 1:1-5  Paul, Apostle of Jesus Christ for the sake of faith, truth, and eternal life, to Titus, my child in faith:  grace and peace from God and Christ.  I left you so you might set things right and appoint presbyters...
  • Ps 96:1-3, 7-8a, 10  "Proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations."  Sing to the Lord.  Tell the nations the Lord is king; me made the world and governs with equity.
  • Mk 4:26-34  “The Kingdom of God is as if a man scattered seed, slept and rose, and the seed sprouted, grew, and yielded fruit, and the man wielded the sickle at harvest.”  “The Kingdom is like a mustard seed, small when sown but becoming so large that birds can dwell in its shade.”  He spoke with many such parables and explained them privately to his disciples.
Reflect
  • Creighton:  Jesus tells us God's kingdom is like the farmer who marvels at the growth. I could ask how my marriage will work out, how to cope with conflict at work, how to deal with health issues, how to make this decision, or how to become less self-centered and more of a reconciler.  I don't need to know but do need to trust that what I do matters and God will do the rest.  Trust and a cooperative heart anticipate God's creative goodness. Daily receptivity to grace transforms.  I need to remember God cares, cooperate with grace, and trust in the outcome.
  • One Bread, One Body:  "One for the money":  As a response to a prophecy of a famine, Paul set off to take up a collection for the suffering people of the Holy Land. Titus was a "captain" of Paul's team, especially for the collections in Greece and Macedonia.  The Church needs trustworthy people to raise funds, and raise faith.  Titus combined fundraising with faith-raising, attracted to God rather than money but, understanding that working with money was important, stepping forward with zeal, faith, and charity.
  • Passionist:  In today's parables, Jesus teaches that God's Kingdom begins simply, then emerges in unexpected ways.  Paul says Timothy’s faith “first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice.” Just like the seed in the parables, faith took root in their hearts and spread to Timothy.  We can look for God's grand appearance, miracles, and heroic saints, but what about ordinary lives, unlikely places, a stranger's kindness, a colleague's smile, a newborn's vulnerability?  Look into your heart and see how faith has taken root. There may be thistles, rocky ground, and need for nurturing, but it's there and growing.
  • DailyScripture.net:  "What God's kingdom is like":  As a mustard seed grows to be a tree that attracts birds who love its seeds, God's kingdom starts from small beginnings in our hearts, works unseen, and transforms us from within.  When we yield to the Spirit and allow God's word to take root, we're transformed.
The "tree of the cross" spread its branches and grew into a community of faith offering the world its fruit:  "We must sow this seed in our minds and let it grow into a tree of understanding elevating our faculties; then it'll spread out branches of knowledge, the taste of its fruit will make our mouths burn, and its kernel will inflame us.  A mustard seed is an image of God's kingdom:  Christ is the kingdom of heaven.  Sown like a seed in Mary's womb, he grew up into the tree of the cross whose branches stretch across the world.  Crushed in the mortar of the passion, its fruit has flavored and preserved every living creature it comes in contact with.  As long as a mustard seed remains intact, its properties lie dormant; but when it's crushed they're evident.  So it was with Christ, who chose to have his body crushed to reveal its power….  He became all things to restore us in himself.  He received the mustard seed that represents God's kingdom; as a man he received it, though as God he'd always possessed it.  He sowed it in his garden, his bride the Church, a garden extending over the world, tilled by the plow of the gospel, fenced in by doctrine and discipline, cleared of weeds by apostles' labor....  When he promised the patriarchs a kingdom, the seed took root in them; with the prophets it sprang up; with the apostles it grew; in the Church it became a great tree of gift-laden branches.  Take the wings of the psalmist’s dove, gleaming in the sunlight, and fly to rest among those branches, where no snare will trap you; fly with confidence and dwell in its shelter" (Peter Chrysologus, Sermon 98, paraphrased).
May God's word take deep root in your life and transform you....
  • Universalis:  Paul converted Timothy and Titus; they became his companions and helpers.  Paul entrusted the Ephesus Christians to Timothy and the Crete Christians to Titus.  His "pastoral epistles" have advice for Timothy, Titus, and us.
Dress legend
  • 'Joy/musical notes' pin:  "I yearn to see you... and be filled with joy" (1st reading); "sing to the Lord" (psalm)
  • 'Classroom' tie:  Jesus taught with parables then explained to his disciples (gospel)
  • 'Plant' pin:  Kingdom:  Seed sprouts, grows,... (gospel)
  • 'Apple' pin:   ...yields fruit (gospel)
  • 'Fire' pin:  Fan into flame the gift of God you have... (1st reading)
  • 'Hands' tie:  ...through imposition of hands (1st reading)
  • 'Peace sign' tie bar:  "Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus" (both 1st readings)
  • 'Bear' tie bar:  'Bear' your share of hardship for the gospel (1st reading)
  • 'Olympics' tie pin:  Proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations (psalm)
  • 'Crown' tie bar:  Tell the nations the Lord is king (psalm); Kingdom of God parables (gospel)
  • 'Eyeball' tie pin:  I yearn to see you again (1st reading)
  • 'Love' suspenders:  God gave us a spirit of power, love, and self-control (1st reading)
  • White shirt:  Liturgical color of today's memorial
Posted by at No comments:

January 25, 2018

Paul's conversion

January 25, 2018:  Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle

See 19 connections with today?
Legend below
Listen

For Psalm 117
Pope Francis to ecumenical delegation
As the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity closes, we recall how last year's commemoration of the Reformation strengthened and deepened the communion between Lutherans and Catholics and their ecumenical partners.  It marked not a goal but a point of departure in the quest for Christian unity under the sign of gratitude, repentance, and hope.  Our efforts are moving towards the study of the Church's nature, a major ecumenical question.  Our prayer and meetings are no longer marked by dispute or conflict.  We understand the Reformation as a summons to confront Christianity’s loss of credibility and to renew and strengthen our confession of the Triune God.  I receive with joy and gratitude the Finland Lutheran Catholic Dialogue Commission's “Communion in Growth. Declaration on the Church, Eucharist and Ministry” Ecumenical dialogue must turn to these decisive issues.
Our service to ecumenism is bearing witness to God's presence.  Since we reaffirm the centrality of the God question, we can join in commemorating the Reformation with faith in Christ crucified and risen, and shouldering our responsibility.  The theme of this year's Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, “Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power,” reminds us of the dire need of so many people.  It's our duty to help them, united by our shared commitment.  Let us humbly ask our Lord that we may be instruments of his peace.  May he help us work together as witnesses and servants of his love, and so glorify his name....  Full text
Read
  • Acts 22:3-16  Paul:  I, a Jew, persecuted this Way to death.  On my journey, a light shone around me, and I fell and heard, ‘Why are you persecuting me?  I am Jesus.  Go to Damascus and do as you're told.’  Ananias came and said, ‘Regain your sight,’ and I did.  ‘God designated you to know his will and hear his voice; you'll be his witness.  Call on him and have yourself baptized and your sins washed away.’
  • Acts 9:1-22  Saul asked for authority to bring to Jerusalem in chains any who belonged to the Way.  A light flashed; he heard, “Why are you persecuting me?  I am Jesus.  Go to the city and do what you're told.” Saul, blinded, was led to Damascus and didn't eat or drink.  God told Ananias: “Ask for Saul; he had a vision of you laying your hands on him to restore his sight.”  He replied, “He's done such evil and can imprison us all” but heard, “I've chosen him and will show him what he'll have to suffer.”  He entered and said, “God sent me that you may regain sight and be filled with the Spirit.”  He regained his sight, was baptized, recovered his strength, stayed with the disciples, and began to proclaim Jesus.  All were astounded.
  • Ps 117:1bc, 2  "Go out to all the world, and tell the good news."  Praise the kind and faithful Lord!
  • Mk 16:15-18  Jesus told the Eleven:  “Go into the world and proclaim the Gospel.  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.  Believers will drive out demons, speak new languages, pick up serpents, drink poison without harm, and cure the sick.”
Reflect
  • Creighton:  Most of us have more subtle conversions than Saul's.  What led me to turn more directly toward God?  Who/what played a role?How did I respond?  Much might have happened over days, weeks, or years.  Maybe there was a mentor, a sacramental moment, an encounter with Scripture or nature....  Christianity is about daily conversions in ordinary life.  The slow burn of joy leads us to live differently, then share.  “We become fully human when we become more than human, when we let God bring us beyond ourselves....  Here we find the inspiration to evangelize.  How can we fail to share [God's] love with others?” (Evangelii Gaudium)
  • One Bread, One Body:  "The 3rd day of blindness":  Many have open eyes but are blinded by the god of this age.  Sin forms scales on our hearts to obstruct our vision; they fall when we're baptized or receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  Through the laying on of hands in Confirmation, the Holy Spirit gives us light and power to see.  May we live in that light, never blinding ourselves through sin.  "Live as children of light."
    The Conversion of St. Paul/ Michelangelo
  • Passionist:  Going, Going, Gone: The Dynamics of Disaffiliation in Young Catholics is based on a comprehensive CARA study stating that many young people drift from practicing their because they feel judged.  Saul was a good Jew, a committed rabbi, so confident in his faith that he was willing to die, and kill, for it.  There's misguided religious fervor today too.  Later, Paul speaks of his woundedness as a thorn in his flesh, confesses sin he can't control , and writes of the Barnabas/Peter conflict.  Maybe that’s the real conversion:  the community heals Paul, acceptance and care eclipse violence and hatred, and he's transformed.  May we transform situations by loving others into more abundant life.
  • DailyScripture.net:  "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel":  Jesus' departure and ascension was both the end of Jesus' physical presence with his disciples and the beginning of his presence with them through the Holy Spirit.  He sent them to be his witnesses and spread the good news; God's love and salvation are for all who will accept it.  Christ gives this great commission to the whole church:  we're to be heralds of the good news and ambassadors for Christ.  The Lord works in and through us by the power of his Spirit.
Paul, who first opposed the gospel and persecuted Christians, was converted when Christ appeared to him on the road to Damascus.  "Paul's conversion matured in his encounter with Christ; it radically changed his life.  What happened to him on the road to Damascus is what Jesus asks....  His and our conversion is believing in Jesus dead and risen and opening to the illumination of his grace.  Saul understood his salvation didn't depend on good works fulfilled according to the law, but on Jesus' death and resurrection.  This truth overturns our life.  To be converted means to believe Jesus has given himself for me on the Cross and lives with and in me.  Entrusting myself to the power of his forgiveness, letting myself be taken by his hand, I can come out of pride, sin, deceit, sadness, selfishness, and false security to know and live the richness of his love." (Benedict XVI, 1-25-09, paraphrased)
  • Universalis:  Today we remember how Christ came to and converted Saul, who had supported Stephen's stoning and persecuted Christians.
Dress legend
  • 'Menorah' pin:  Paul:  "I am a Jew..." (1st reading)
  • 'Eyeball' pin:  Saul's blindness and recovery of sight (1st reading, alt. 1st reading)
  • 'Hands' tie pin:  Paul was led by the hand; Ananias laid hands on Saul (1st reading, alt. 1st reading); the sick will recover when believers lay hands on them (gospel)
  • 'Street light' tie bar:  On the way to Damascus, a great light shone around Paul (1st reading, alt. 1st reading)
  • 'Letters' tie:  Saul asked the high priest for letters to allow him to bring Christians back in chains (1st reading, alt. 1st reading)
  • 'Phone' tie bar:  'Call' on God's name (1st reading); "Isn't this the one who ravaged those who call on Jesus' name?" (alt. 1st reading)
  • 'Accordion' pin:  "This man is a chosen 'instrument' of mine..." (alt. 1st reading)
  • 'Dove' pin:  Jesus appeared to you that you may be filled with the Spirit (alt. 1st reading)
  • 'Olympics' tie pin:  "Go out to all the world and tell the Good News" (psalm, gospel)
  • 'Car' pin:  Believers will 'drive' out demons,... (gospel)
  • 'Serpent' tie pin:  ...pick up serpents... (gospel)
  • White shirt:  Liturgical color of today's feast
Posted by at No comments:

January 24, 2018

Francis de Sales

January 24, 2018:  St. Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor

See 16 connections with today?
Legend below
Listen
For gospel
For Psalm 89
Pope Francis
General audience:  In my recent Apostolic Journey to Chile and Peru, I had the joy of encountering God’s pilgrim people and encouraging the growth of harmony respecting the nations' diversity.  The peace each of us needs can only come from Jesus.  Keep praying for peace.  Listen to the poor, the young, the elderly, immigrants, and the earth.  Bear witness through a style of closeness.  Unity isn't sterile uniformity where all are equal but rather bringing together the riches of the differences we've inherited from history and culture.  I encouraged the Church in its path of purification and renewal and encouraged educators to help the young to build a just and inclusive society.  I'm confident Peru's environmental, spiritual, and cultural riches can help build unity and cooperation in meeting their challenges.  I stressed the importance of mutual respect and care for the environment.  I invited all to work together to confront the 'storms' of crime, corruption, and lack of education, employment, and housing.  I appealed to the example of the saints and asked their intercession as the Church pursues the path of conversion and mission and strives for unity, hope, and peace for all.  More
His World Communications Day message on "fake news" was released today.  Watch for it serialized here.


Read
  • 2 Sm 7:4-17  God told David via Nathan:  Should you build me a house?  Did I ever ask my judges to build me a house?  I chose you; I've been with you.  I'll establish a house for you.  Your heir shall build me a house, and I'll make his Kingdom firm; I'll be a father to him and won't withdraw my favor.  Your house shall endure.
  • Ps 89:4-5, 27-30  "For ever I will maintain my love for my servant."  I've made a covenant with David my chosen to make your dynasty endure.  I'll maintain my love for and covenant with him.
  • Mk 4:1-20  Jesus taught a parable:  "A sower sowed:  some seed fell on the path; birds ate it.  Other seed fell on rocky ground and withered.   Some fell among thorns that choked it.  And some fell on rich soil and produced fruit....  The sower sows the word. To the ones on the path, Satan comes and takes it away.  The ones on rocky ground receive it but have no roots and so fall away.  The ones among thorns hear it but, choked by anxiety and cravings, bear no fruit.  Those on rich soil accept it; they bear fruit.”
Reflect

    • Creighton:  Jesus tells us that the seed falling on good soil yields thirtyfold, sixtyfold, or a hundredfold.  We are to prepare the soil, but it's the Lord’s choice to decide what is to be planted in us.  When we think we're yielding “only” thirtyfold or sixtyfold, we may be looking at our optimal yield. When we judge others’ apparent yield, we don't know what their optimal yield should be.  Instead, may we focus on preparing our soil for its optimum yield....
    • One Bread, One Body:  "Putting God in a box?"  With good intentions, David wanted to do something great for God, but God never asked for a house.  Thank God for church buildings, but God can't be contained.  When Solomon completed the Temple, he recognized that even the heavens couldn't contain God.  Yet God was contained in Mary's womb, in Jesus' flesh.  And the Lord is in the Eucharist, in the tabernacle, and in us.  God lets himself be contained not to be limited and boxed but to live through us, flowing out of us as a river of life.  May we act as someone Jesus dwells in.
    • Passionist:  "The Word":  God's Word is precious to us; it comes from God's mind and heart and is spoken to ours.  Anyone desiring God is deeply concerned about the mind of Christ and wants to be a person after the Lord's heart.  They said of Jesus:  “Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.”  People ”were amazed [ekplēssō, astonished] at his teaching.”  Another word used about Jesus' words and deeds is existēmi (stand beside/outside of ourselves), from which comes 'ecstasy....'
    • DailyScripture.net:  "Jesus taught people using parables":  Jesus used parables to help people understand God and his kingdom, using images and characters from everyday life to illustrate his message. Over a third of the synoptics contain his parables.  "Parables are word pictures not of visible things, but rather of things of the mind and spirit.  What our eyes can't see, a parable reveals to the eyes of the mind, informing the intellect by means of things perceivable by the senses." (Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, Sermon 41)
    The sower parable is aimed at hearers of Jesus' word. There are different ways of accepting God's word and they produce different kinds of fruit:  prejudiced ones with closed minds, unteachable and blind to what they don't want to hear; shallow ones who don't think things through and eventually wander off; ones with many cares who don't hear what's really important; and open-minded ones willing to listen, learn, and understand, never too proud or busy.
    St. Francis de Sales
    Origen re why Jesus distinguishes between those ready to hear and understand from those not ready:  "Sometimes it's not an advantage to be healed quickly or superficially, especially if it makes the disease more shut up inside to rage.  So God, who knows all, delays healing of such persons, healing by not healing, lest premature recovery render them incurable.  This pertains to those our Lord addressed as 'those outside,' whom he searches out.  Jesus covered up deeper mysteries to those not yet ready to receive his teaching directly; he wanted to prevent them from being speedily converted and only cosmetically healed.  If the forgiveness of their sins were too easily obtained, they'd fall into the same sin they imagined could be cured easily" (On First Principles 3.1.7, paraphrased)
    The Lord will give us understanding if we approach him with faith, humility, and readiness to be taught....
    • Universalis:  Francis de Sales studied law, and was ordained priest despite his father's opposition.  He preached so effectively that many Calvinists returned to Catholicism.  After being made bishop, he reformed the diocese, preached, and gave spiritual guidance, teaching that everyone can attain a devout life:  “Religious devotion perfects”; to be more holy, be more yourself.  “To preach effectively, preach with love.”  "Half an hour's meditation each day is essential, except when you are busy.  Then a full hour is needed."  Read Introduction to the Devout Life online at CCEL or Catholicity.  He lived simply, sharing with the poor.  With St. Jane Frances, he founded the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary, where gentleness and humility are also stressed.  Other orders were founded based on his spirituality.
    Dress legend
    • 'Wood block' tie pin:  I haven't asked you why you haven't built me a house of cedar (1st reading)
    • 'Castle' pin:  House of David (1st reading)
    • 'Sheep' tie bar:  "I took you from care of the flock to lead my people" (1st reading)
    • 'Crown' tie bar:  I'll raise up your heir and make his Kingdom firm (1st reading); I'll establish his throne (psalm)
    • 'LOVE' suspenders sticker:  Forever I'll maintain my love for my servant (psalm)
    • 'Scroll' pin:  I've made a covenant with my chosen one (psalm)
    • 'Boat' tie bar:  Jesus got into a boat... (gospel)
    • 'Bird' pin:  birds ate seed that fell on the path (gospel)
    • 'Rock' tie pin:  seeds that fell on rocky ground withered (gospel)
    • 'Roses' pin:  thorns choked some seeds (gospel)
    • 'Apple' pin:  seeds on good soil bore fruit (gospel)
    • 'Eyeball' pin:  To those outside everything comes in parables, so they may see but not perceive (gospel)
    • Green suspenders:  Ordinary Time season
    • 'Doctor's office' tie:  Francis de Sales, 'doctor' of the church
    • White shirt:  St. Francis de Sales
    Posted by at No comments:
    Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)