Rise

Day's Saints
Goar of Aquitane, Hermit
Nazaria Ignancia March Y Mesa, Nun

Gn 22:1b-19 Sacrifice of Isaac

Gospel Mt 9:1-8
After entering a boat, Jesus made the crossing, and came into his own town.
And there people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic,
"Courage, child, your sins are forgiven."
At that, some of the scribes said to themselves,
"This man is blaspheming."
Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said,
"Why do you harbor evil thoughts?
Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,'
or to say, 'Rise and walk'?
But that you may know that the Son of Man
has authority on earth to forgive sins"–
he then said to the paralytic,
"Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home."
He rose and went home.
When the crowds saw this they were struck with awe
and glorified God who had given such authority to men.

+

I was struck by the statement in the narration of the life of St. Goar of Aquitane, that he "began" to be a hermit. He was not selected by a bishop and consecrated; he simply began. God plants seeds, and watering them and giving them sun and helping them find nutrition in the soil, a great work is begun.

Neither did St. Francis of Assisi. He simply began by giving away all he owned and living a beggar's life, loved God and his companions, seeking to draw them to the love of God He felt in a very personal way. He did not have to force people to do anything; they were already hungry for a living example of the Evangelical life embodied in people.

It is most important to also realize, that he submitted himself to the bishop, and when prompted to get the approval of the Church, he journied to Rome and saw the Pope who have his permission to Francis to have a religious order which we now call the Order of Saint Francis.

Neither did Francis start rebellions or reformations or apostasies, but sought to be more closely united to the Church and Christ.

We are meant to be vessels of the Holy Spirit, filled with the waters of life so abundantly provided us through piercings He endured on the cross, being entirely opened for us to be the recipients of His miracles and His holiness. In the name of those two things, men conquer in a way which enriches instead of impoverishing, and builds rather than destroying.

Jesus bulds His Church, and united to Him by our fideltiy to the Church, the world is surpassed and men invited to eternal bliss.

Surely there is impetus enough in all this to move our hearts and in this moment dispose us to serve Him and one another in love.

Rise

Day's Saints
Goar of Aquitane, Hermit
Nazaria Ignancia March Y Mesa, Nun

Gn 22:1b-19 Sacrifice of Isaac

Gospel Mt 9:1-8
After entering a boat, Jesus made the crossing, and came into his own town.
And there people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic,
"Courage, child, your sins are forgiven."
At that, some of the scribes said to themselves,
"This man is blaspheming."
Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said,
"Why do you harbor evil thoughts?
Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,'
or to say, 'Rise and walk'?
But that you may know that the Son of Man
has authority on earth to forgive sins"–
he then said to the paralytic,
"Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home."
He rose and went home.
When the crowds saw this they were struck with awe
and glorified God who had given such authority to men.

+

I was struck by the statement in the narration of the life of St. Goar of Aquitane, that he "began" to be a hermit. He was not selected by a bishop and consecrated; he simply began. God plants seeds, and watering them and giving them sun and helping them find nutrition in the soil, a great work is begun.

Neither did St. Francis of Assisi. He simply began by giving away all he owned and living a beggar's life, loved God and his companions, seeking to draw them to the love of God He felt in a very personal way. He did not have to force people to do anything; they were already hungry for a living example of the Evangelical life embodied in people.

It is most important to also realize, that he submitted himself to the bishop, and when prompted to get the approval of the Church, he journied to Rome and saw the Pope who have his permission to Francis to have a religious order which we now call the Order of Saint Francis.

Neither did Francis start rebellions or reformations or apostasies, but sought to be more closely united to the Church and Christ.

We are meant to be vessels of the Holy Spirit, filled with the waters of life so abundantly provided us through piercings He endured on the cross, being entirely opened for us to be the recipients of His miracles and His holiness. In the name of those two things, men conquer in a way which enriches instead of impoverishing, and builds rather than destroying.

Jesus bulds His Church, and united to Him by our fideltiy to the Church, the world is surpassed and men invited to eternal bliss.

Surely there is impetus enough in all this to move our hearts and in this moment dispose us to serve Him and one another in love.

Familia

Day's Saints 
Thomas the Apostle
Blessed Andreas Eberbach, Premonstratensian

Eph 2:19-22
Brothers and sisters:
You are no longer strangers and sojourners,
but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones
and members of the household of God,
built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets,
with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.
Through him the whole structure is held together
and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord;
in him you also are being built together
into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Gospel Jn 20:24-29

Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve,

was not with them when Jesus came.

So the other disciples said to him, "We have seen the Lord."

But Thomas said to them,

"Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands

and put my finger into the nailmarks

and put my hand into his side, I will not believe."

Now a week later his disciples were again inside

and Thomas was with them.

Jesus came, although the doors were locked,

and stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you."

Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands,

and bring your hand and put it into my side,

and do not be unbelieving, but believe."

Thomas answered and said to him, "My Lord and my God!"

Jesus said to him, "Have you come to believe because you have seen me?

Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed."

+

See the regard he has for his companions, the writer of the Epistle to the Ephesians; we are no longer strangers and sojourners. We know each other and our lives are united by the Holy Spirit in a Body with Christ.

See the means by which Jesus chose to reveal Himself so as to be believed; He shows His wounds, still fresh from the crucifixion, and glorified as manifestations of His great glory, not horrific images of agony any more. Though He is capable of mountint a cross to resume His place again. He is more than capable of saving us, however wretched we may be, because He is a forgiving God and Lord.

If we die like the martyrs did, we will simply be joinng the more securely with Him, fastened in a bond of love that is indissoluable.

I do not doubt there are those among you whose hearts and affections the Lord could steal so that you could bleed from visible wounds to proclaim your unity with Him by His love. But He is content with most to love them without their participating in the agonies He endured in order to atone for sin and to bestow redemption on us who are unfaithful and selfish or even indifferent in the midst of life and its events.

But do not let time and indifference necessitate an awakening that might be more horrendous, but awaken in gratitude and adhere to the demands of the Lord your God to love one another and He Himself with all your might.

For all things, He makes us ready. St. Padre Pio suffered the transverberation of his heart before the wounds in his hands and feet appeared, and the even more terrible wound of the place which chafed the shoulder of the Lord.

He participated in Jesus, in ways we cannot fathom, and we cannot comprehend how such events could take place and how the subject of the reception of that participation could endure what the Lord asked him to endure, and which were his constant companions for fifty years. So much love is beyond our comprehension; both the love of Padre Pio and the love of Jesus, who invited him so fully to the participatioon in His redemptive crucifixion.\

We celebrate His Sacred Heart, the Prescious Blood and His holy passion in the months of the year; we are invited to see and to an extent, participate somehow in these events as we confront His presence in our hearts during our life with Him in this world. We may be far more lowly than the humble friar, but I assure you, He has enkindled an equal love in them that ought to be respected and revered as the Lord Himself. 

Each of you knows what part of His Person you encompass in your life, so that in your humility, you honor the Lord and your companions by your holiness which He has made distinctive to each of you so that you glorify Him as well, and each other at the same time, for His glory emanates from each of us whether we are aware or not.

Hopefully, the events in our being will bind us through love of Him and through our love, to one another so that the Lord is recognised by everyone. My prayer is that it should be so, and we might venerate one another as brothers and sisters in the Holy Family as the letter to the Ephesians intimates

Familia

Day's Saints 
Thomas the Apostle
Blessed Andreas Eberbach, Premonstratensian

Eph 2:19-22
Brothers and sisters:
You are no longer strangers and sojourners,
but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones
and members of the household of God,
built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets,
with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.
Through him the whole structure is held together
and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord;
in him you also are being built together
into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Gospel Jn 20:24-29

Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve,

was not with them when Jesus came.

So the other disciples said to him, "We have seen the Lord."

But Thomas said to them,

"Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands

and put my finger into the nailmarks

and put my hand into his side, I will not believe."

Now a week later his disciples were again inside

and Thomas was with them.

Jesus came, although the doors were locked,

and stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you."

Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands,

and bring your hand and put it into my side,

and do not be unbelieving, but believe."

Thomas answered and said to him, "My Lord and my God!"

Jesus said to him, "Have you come to believe because you have seen me?

Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed."

+

See the regard he has for his companions, the writer of the Epistle to the Ephesians; we are no longer strangers and sojourners. We know each other and our lives are united by the Holy Spirit in a Body with Christ.

See the means by which Jesus chose to reveal Himself so as to be believed; He shows His wounds, still fresh from the crucifixion, and glorified as manifestations of His great glory, not horrific images of agony any more. Though He is capable of mountint a cross to resume His place again. He is more than capable of saving us, however wretched we may be, because He is a forgiving God and Lord.

If we die like the martyrs did, we will simply be joinng the more securely with Him, fastened in a bond of love that is indissoluable.

I do not doubt there are those among you whose hearts and affections the Lord could steal so that you could bleed from visible wounds to proclaim your unity with Him by His love. But He is content with most to love them without their participating in the agonies He endured in order to atone for sin and to bestow redemption on us who are unfaithful and selfish or even indifferent in the midst of life and its events.

But do not let time and indifference necessitate an awakening that might be more horrendous, but awaken in gratitude and adhere to the demands of the Lord your God to love one another and He Himself with all your might.

For all things, He makes us ready. St. Padre Pio suffered the transverberation of his heart before the wounds in his hands and feet appeared, and the even more terrible wound of the place which chafed the shoulder of the Lord.

He participated in Jesus, in ways we cannot fathom, and we cannot comprehend how such events could take place and how the subject of the reception of that participation could endure what the Lord asked him to endure, and which were his constant companions for fifty years. So much love is beyond our comprehension; both the love of Padre Pio and the love of Jesus, who invited him so fully to the participatioon in His redemptive crucifixion.\

We celebrate His Sacred Heart, the Prescious Blood and His holy passion in the months of the year; we are invited to see and to an extent, participate somehow in these events as we confront His presence in our hearts during our life with Him in this world. We may be far more lowly than the humble friar, but I assure you, He has enkindled an equal love in them that ought to be respected and revered as the Lord Himself. 

Each of you knows what part of His Person you encompass in your life, so that in your humility, you honor the Lord and your companions by your holiness which He has made distinctive to each of you so that you glorify Him as well, and each other at the same time, for His glory emanates from each of us whether we are aware or not.

Hopefully, the events in our being will bind us through love of Him and through our love, to one another so that the Lord is recognised by everyone. My prayer is that it should be so, and we might venerate one another as brothers and sisters in the Holy Family as the letter to the Ephesians intimates

Not Above

DAY'S SAINTS
Feast of the Precious Blood
Blessed Assunta Marchetti, Nun

Gospel Mt 8:5-17
When Jesus entered Capernaum,
a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying,
"Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully."
He said to him, "I will come and cure him."
The centurion said in reply,
"Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof;
only say the word and my servant will be healed.
For I too am a man subject to authority,
with soldiers subject to me.
And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes;
and to another, 'Come here,' and he comes;
and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it."
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him,
"Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.
I say to you, many will come from the east and the west,
and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven,
but the children of the Kingdom
will be driven out into the outer darkness,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth."
And Jesus said to the centurion,
"You may go; as you have believed, let it be done for you."
And at that very hour his servant was healed.
Jesus entered the house of Peter,
and saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever.
He touched her hand, the fever left her,
and she rose and waited on him.
When it was evening, they brought him many
who were possessed by demons,
and he drove out the spirits by a word and cured all the sick,
to fulfill what had been said by Isaiah the prophet:
He took away our infirmities
and bore our diseases.

+

If Jesus was not above suffering for ungrateful and indifferent people, what should be the conduct of His followers?

All of us have been initiated into His cross and His passion-life, so that we are subject to service for the Lord when He asks. We may decline, but blessed are those who reject sin and are grateful to the Lord for the opportunity of atoning, for our  own sins, and those of others, even those who caused us harm.

If you hear His voice, be not indifferent to Him, but rise from your bed and forsake your slumber to be attentive and present to the Lord in a world where so few remember Him.

Do not think that you can not do great things for the Lord because you are lowly and ordinary. If He commissions you, you can cause the hills to sink into the earth, and make the stars rise in their course at night, because you are a vessel of His power.

The ways in which He causes events to unfold is inscrutable by design; therefore, those who serve Him without thinking, from the love and generosity of their heart are blessed now, and will enjoy blessings in eternity.

Be at peace in yourself, and the world will be at peace, and only those who  troubled themselves will be troubled. 

Dictators may tremble in fear, yet what they fear will not be their undoing, but they will meet their appointed end regardless of the precautions they take.

Likewise, we are all appointed to give an accounting of our existence to the Lord when He asks. Let Him be kind and gentle; love Him and serve Him and do His Will, untroubled by considerations, for things evolve without our knowing how, and peace is planted to grown in the garden of us all.

Not Above

DAY'S SAINTS
Feast of the Precious Blood
Blessed Assunta Marchetti, Nun

Gospel Mt 8:5-17
When Jesus entered Capernaum,
a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying,
"Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully."
He said to him, "I will come and cure him."
The centurion said in reply,
"Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof;
only say the word and my servant will be healed.
For I too am a man subject to authority,
with soldiers subject to me.
And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes;
and to another, 'Come here,' and he comes;
and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it."
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him,
"Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.
I say to you, many will come from the east and the west,
and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven,
but the children of the Kingdom
will be driven out into the outer darkness,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth."
And Jesus said to the centurion,
"You may go; as you have believed, let it be done for you."
And at that very hour his servant was healed.
Jesus entered the house of Peter,
and saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever.
He touched her hand, the fever left her,
and she rose and waited on him.
When it was evening, they brought him many
who were possessed by demons,
and he drove out the spirits by a word and cured all the sick,
to fulfill what had been said by Isaiah the prophet:
He took away our infirmities
and bore our diseases.

+

If Jesus was not above suffering for ungrateful and indifferent people, what should be the conduct of His followers?

All of us have been initiated into His cross and His passion-life, so that we are subject to service for the Lord when He asks. We may decline, but blessed are those who reject sin and are grateful to the Lord for the opportunity of atoning, for our  own sins, and those of others, even those who caused us harm.

If you hear His voice, be not indifferent to Him, but rise from your bed and forsake your slumber to be attentive and present to the Lord in a world where so few remember Him.

Do not think that you can not do great things for the Lord because you are lowly and ordinary. If He commissions you, you can cause the hills to sink into the earth, and make the stars rise in their course at night, because you are a vessel of His power.

The ways in which He causes events to unfold is inscrutable by design; therefore, those who serve Him without thinking, from the love and generosity of their heart are blessed now, and will enjoy blessings in eternity.

Be at peace in yourself, and the world will be at peace, and only those who  troubled themselves will be troubled. 

Dictators may tremble in fear, yet what they fear will not be their undoing, but they will meet their appointed end regardless of the precautions they take.

Likewise, we are all appointed to give an accounting of our existence to the Lord when He asks. Let Him be kind and gentle; love Him and serve Him and do His Will, untroubled by considerations, for things evolve without our knowing how, and peace is planted to grown in the garden of us all.

Calling

 Some people dismiss demons and devils as childish fantasies. Prophecies of them all being loosed upon the earth at once are also dismissed, despite the excellent caliber of the prophets. What people fail to see, is the corruption of society descending more and more into sin and violence. The ferocity of mindless attacks on people in all sorts of places that used to be safe, are safe no longer. Governments flounder to get a handle on the chaos, but it has been unleashed on the human race so that people must make choices about what they do with their lives; indifference is becoming impossible.

The despicable notion that it is good and right to charge "fashionable" prices for living space is moronic, and the longer governments refuse to address rents by regulating them so anyone can afford an apartment is simple insanity.

Rent regulation is the first part of a solution, but a spiritual rennaissance must also happen. If there is none, then efforts to address rents are also going to fail, and the insane violence and criminality will continue until things get so bad that everyone has been killed.

The rennaissance I am speaking of is that people address the Lord just because they want to tell Him they love Him, are grateful to Him and implore Him to assist those who are struggling and have no advocate. In such an occurrance, it is possible to see an acceptable future, because people are helping others to also arrive at their own rennaissance.

Each of us has all the time we need to do what He asks in a given day. That we did not at least think of Him in love, will be a blight on our memory of that day when we must account for our existance and deeds.

Pay attention when you perceive the Lord telling you not to do something. One does not need to go off into the desert to sit in a cave waiting for a revelation. Wherever you are now is your cave. Sit in it and turn off the voices in your head, and the whisperings of panic in the darkness, and allow the Lord to be heard and felt so near. The desert fathers did it because God told them specifically to do it. If you are called in the same way, then enter the wilderness and pray. Wherever you are is your dwelling place, and wherever you will be at the fall of night, is an acceptable habitat for your seeking.