A Quote from Saint Teresa of Avila

“God has been very good to me, for I never dwell upon anything wrong which a person has done, so as to remember it afterwards. If I do remember it, I always see some other virtue in that person.”

May God grant us the eyes and heart of a saint.

On the Feast of Stephen

Good King Wenceslas looked out on the feast of Stephen,
when the snow lay roundabout, deep and crisp and even.

Brightly shone the moon that night, though the frost was cruel,
when a poor man came in sight, gathering winter fuel.

"Hither, page, and stand by me, if thou know'st it, telling:
yonder peasant, who is he? Where and what his dwelling?"

"Sire, he lives a good league hence, underneath the mountain,
right against the forest fence, by St. Agnes fountain."

"Bring me flesh and bring me wine, bring me pine logs hither.
Thou and I will see him dine, when we bear them thither. "

Page and monarch, forth they went, forth they went together,
through rude wind´s wild lament and the bitter weather.

"Sire, the night is darker now and the wind blows stronger.
Fails my heart, I know not how; I can go no longer."

"Mark my footsteps, good my page, tread thou in them boldly.
Thou shalt find the winter´s rage freeze thy blood less coldly."

In his master´s steps he trod, where the snow lay dinted.
Heat was in the very sod, which the saint had printed.

Therefore, Christian men, be sure, wealth or rank possessing,
ye who now will bless the poor shall yourselves find blessing.

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Walk in thy King's footsteps, Christian reader, and do not fear the winter's rage.

How boundless, O Jesus, is Thy Love!

Thou hast prepared for me,
of Thy most precious Body and Blood,
a divine Banquet,
wherein Thou dost give Thyself to me without reserve.
What hath urged Thee to this excess of love?
Nothing but Thine own most Loving Heart.
O adorable Heart of Jesus,
Furnace of divine Love,
receive my soul into the wounds of Thy most sacred Passion,
that in this school of charity
I may learn to make a return of love
to that God who hath given me such wonderful proofs of His Love.

Amen.

(from Manual of Prayers, Third Plenary Council of Baltimore)

Father dies saving son

Three years ago today, Thomas VanderWoude died saving his son's life. "He died as he lived. Anyone you talk with will say he was always there to help," said the director of the school where he coached basketball and soccer. May God raise him up in the last day.

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.

525,600 Minutes

Seasons of Love

525,600 minutes,
525,000 moments so dear.
525,600 minutes --
How do you measure, measure a year?
In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee.
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife.
In 525,600 minutes --
how do you measure a year in the life?
How about love? ...
Measure in love.
Seasons of love...

"525,600 minutes" is the title of Molly Hightower's blog, which she created to chronicle her year with Our Little Brothers and Sisters, a wonderful organization whose purpose is to care for orphaned and abandoned children in Latin America. Molly arrived in Haiti last June to help with the physical therapy of disabled children. She worked patiently under trying conditions for six months, but then, tragically, was caught in last week's earthquake. On Friday, her body was recovered from the wreckage of the Fr. Wasson Center in Pétionville.

Molly seems to have been a cheerful and compassionate young lady, a fragrant blossom in the garden of the Lord.

May the Lord of All forgive all her sins, and bless her, and raise her up on the last day.

What is essential is invisible to the eye

Posted by Diogenes in Off the Record:

... But worshiping the body of Jesus under the species of bread also coaches us in a particular disconnect between appearance and reality, where the underlying reality is infinitely more precious than the surface appearance. Now it's comparatively easy to minister to poor people when they're cooperative and grateful and make the minister feel a sense of accomplishment. But sometimes, we're told, they're cantankerous to the point of being positively repellent. That's the point at which the self-congratulatory do-gooders quit and go home and where the real charity kicks in. That's the point at which it's impossible to see the face of Jesus in the destitute (or sick, or deranged) except as a pure act of faith. And that's the point at which it matters whether Jesus is divine or not, because belief in the repulsively disguised spark of divinity is the only reason to keep on giving love in exchange for contempt.

The Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy

How many of these have you done recently? Out of all fourteen Works of Mercy, I think the fourth and seventh from the second list are the most difficult to accomplish in some way. Stretching the point a little, the fourth can be supported by supporting PNCEA Prison Ministries, an organization that serves the spiritual and religious needs of Catholic inmates in American prisons. Doing something personally would be better, but one can't do everything.

How to do something about #7? Maybe contribute to disaster relief, after a major disaster?

The Seven Spiritual Works of Mercy
1. To admonish sinners.
2. To instruct the ignorant.
3. To counsel the doubtful.
4. To comfort the sorrowful.
5. To bear wrongs patiently.
6. To forgive all injuries.
7. To pray for the living and the dead

The Seven Corporal Works of Mercy
1. To feed the hungry.
2. To give drink to the thirsty.
3. To clothe the naked.
4. To visit and ransom the captives.
5. To harbor the harborless.
6. To visit the sick.
7. To bury the dead

The Sons of Zebedee

Matthew 20:20-28

The cup that Jesus says James and John will share is the cup of His blood, and our Lord ends His discourse by saying that He will give His life as a ransom for many.

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The word of the Lord is sweet on my lips. Blessed be the Lord. I love the writings of St. John Chrysostom[see below]. At the moment, I cannot tell if the above thought is mine or his. [I meant linking Matthew 20:20ff to Matthew 26:28. I was a bit light headed from having spent too many hours uninterrupted at the keyboard] Blessed uncertainty that joins me to this great saint, if only for a moment and only in my own mind. O my Lord, grant me a heart more like his, and a soul to praise Thee.

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[The "both" that St. John refers to below are martyrs and those that give away their worldly possessions]

St. John Chrysostom
Homily XXXII on First Corinthians

But the point proposed for enquiry above is, How, after Christ had said that both these belong to perfection, Paul affirms, that these without charity are imperfect? Not contradicting Him, God forbid: but harmonizing with Him, and that exactly. For so in the case of the rich man, He said, not merely, "sell thy goods, and give to the poor," but He added, "and come, follow Me." Now not even the following Him proves any man a disciple of Christ so completely as the loving one another. For, "by this shall all men know," saith He, when He saith, "Whosoever loseth his life for My sake, shall find it;" (S. Matthew chapter 10, verse 39 and Matthew chapter 10, verse 35) and, "whosoever shall confess Me before men, him will I also confess before My Father which is in heaven;" He means not this, that it is not necessary to have love, but He declares the reward which is laid up for these labor, Since that along with martyrdom He requires also this, is what He elsewhere strongly intimates, thus saying, "Ye shall indeed drink of My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with;" (S. Matthew chapter 20, verse 23) i.e., ye shall be martyrs, ye shall be slain for My sake; "but to sit on My right hand, and on My left, (not as though any sit on the right hand and the left, but meaning the highest precedency and honor) "is not Mine to give," saith He, "but to those for whom it is prepared." Then signifying for whom it is prepared, He calls them and saith, "whosoever among you will be chief, let him be servant to you all;" (S. Matthew chapter 20, verse 26) setting forth humility and love. And the love which He requires is intense; wherefore He stopped not even at this, but added, "even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many;" pointing out that we ought so to love as even to be slain for our beloved. For this above all is to love Him. Wherefore also He saith to Peter, "If thou lovest Me, feed My sheep." (S. John chapter 21, verse 16)