Ijournal entry 102014 #42. October, month on The Most Holy Rosary. GO SAINTS! Quotes from St. Francis De Sales, Ecclesiastes 4:10, St. Jerome, and St. Therese. Article by St. Gregory of Nazainzen: Oration 43: In Praise of Basil the Great. Book: "The Art of Being a Good Friend", by Hugh Black. Audio sermon by Fr. Roger Landry: "Loving as Christ Loves Us"
SAINTS 23 Lions 24
Your play boys, didn't pass muster
So dissatisfied with a performance that was so lackluster!
Your play boys, didn't pass muster
So dissatisfied with a performance that was so lackluster!
October, month on The Most Holy Rosary
"The faults of children are not always imputed to the parents, especially when they have instructed them and given good example. Our Lord, in His wonderous Providence, allows children to break the hearts of devout fathers and mothers. Thus the decisions your children have made don't make you a failure as a parent in God's eyes. You are entitled to feel sorrow, but not necessarily guilt. Do not cease praying for your children; God's grace can touch a hardened heart. Commend your children to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. When parents pray the Rosary,at the end of each decade they should hold the Rosary aloft and say to her,"With these beads bind my children to your Immaculate Heart", she will attend to their souls". By St. Louise de Marillac
to a Gigarette, my dearest friend in the whole wide world, Hilda. May God bless her every breath. Scripture says (Psalm 90:10) the years of our life are eighty if we are "strong". Well thanks be to God, Hilda is extremely "strong", Alleluia, Alleluia! You go girl!
The Cheese & Crackers = Quotes from St. Francis De Sales, Ecclesiastes 4:10, St. Jerome, and St. Therese
The Potatoes = Article by St. Gregory of Nazainzen: Oration 43: In Praise of Basil the Great.
The Meat = The book: "The Art of Being a Good Friend", by Hugh Black
The Dessert = Audio sermon by Fr. Roger Landry: "Loving as Christ Loves Us"
The Meat = The book: "The Art of Being a Good Friend", by Hugh Black
The Dessert = Audio sermon by Fr. Roger Landry: "Loving as Christ Loves Us"
The Cheese & Crackers
🔵 "Yes, for there is scarcely anyone without some imperfection. Why should we receive indiscriminately the stains and imperfections of the friend along with his friendship? Certainly we must love him in spite of his imperfection. But we must neither love nor receive his imperfection, because friendship demands the communication of what is good and not evil. Those who sift the gravel of the river Tagus separate the gold which they find in it, to carry it away with them, and leave the sand on the river bank. In the same way, those who commune in a good friendship ought to separate the sand of imperfections and should not allow it to enter their spirit". By St. Francis De Sales
⚫️ 📖Ecclesiastes 4:10 If the one falls, the other will help the fallen one. But woe to the solitary person! If that one should fall, there is no other to help.
🔴 "The face is the mirror of the mind, and eyes without speaking confess the secrets of the heart". By St. Jerome
⚪️ Not only does friendship require it, but on the contrary, it obliges us to help one another in ridding ourselves of all kinds of imperfections. Without doubt we must gently bear our friend’s imperfections not to sustain him in them, much less to transfer them to ourselves. I am speaking only of imperfections. As to sins, we should neither tolerate nor encourage them in a friend. It is either a feeble or a wicked friendship that sees a friend perish and does not help him. True and living friendship cannot endure in the midst of sins. It is said that the salamander extinguishes the fire in which it lives, and sin ruins the friendship in which it lodges itself. If it is just a passing sin, friendship puts it to flight at once by correction. But if sin stays and settles down, immediately friendship perishes because it can be kept up only by true virtue. Then how much less should we sin for the sake of friendship!" By St. Francis De Sales
🔴 "Be quite sure that God will bless you and that the depths of your sufferings will be matched by the consolation reserved for you". By St. Therese
The Veggies
📖 Luke 6:41 ""Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?"
📖 James 1:24 "For he beheld himself, and went his way, and presently forgot what manner of man he was"
📖 Matthew 5:46 For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same?
📖 Matthew 5:47 And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same?
One day while getting ready to leave home and preparing for Mass, it were complaints that were rising up one by one to The Lord. What a poor preparatory phase, so opposite of what scripture instructs us to keep before our mind :
📖 Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things"
This turned out to be a perfect opportunity where The Lord could show me myself in regards to my complaints about certain ones who keep many devotional practices, but don't seem to be changing. Something the day before triggered these thoughts. So often you can see people not steeped in devotional practices, really make visible the face of God in what they say and do. Their lives witness in a real way Christ alive in them. It was like The Lord responded to me in this way: You keep running and you are not changing, so there is no difference in my sight. This was not said harshly. That allowed to see the truth in a deeper way, and to beg and ask that change may become a big part of my life. Yes Lord, change is desperately needed. Change is definitely a now 'rhema" word. Lord, it is necessary for me to change now, not tomorrow, but now. While journaling, this song is coming to mind:
Change My Heart oh God - http://youtu.be/DwudqCO7mSQ
At Mass when receiving the Eucharist, my plea was for graces that would help a serious change to occur in my life. A change that would result in my being able to reflect Jesus more and more. That He would increase and dominate, and for the Father's will be done always and in all ways in my life (thanks to Fr.Bob for that saying). In a flash something came to mind that was picked up along the way: When you point a finger at someone, there are three fingers pointing back to you. For me this means the Trinity: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit pointing back at me. Their response to my plea came after Mass. The following came to mind: When the urge is there for me to concentrate on the faults of others, it will be wise and beneficial to prayerfully ponder and repeat the following:
✏️1. Father, forgive them as you forgive me, for they know not what they do.
✏️2. Father, it is for me to "see everything, overlook much, change a little". (This is a maxim by one of my favorite popes, St. JXXIII)
✏️3. Oh Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
So very grateful and thankful to God for giving me a plan of action to help facilitate a change in behavior. It's up to me to do my homework, knowing that grace will ever be at my side.
After spending time in church when the Mass was over, when getting ready to leave, it was noticed to my dismay, that my cars keys were not clipped on my key ring. Everyone was gone except this couple that sometimes stays an hour after Mass to pray. My cars keys are separate from my other keys. The cars keys were sitting on the seat of the car. Thank God this couple was still praying in church, and they could be approached to ask them to give me a ride home. Praise The Lord all of my keys were not on the seat. By the time all this is accomplished, being dropped off home and back to the church again, then stopping off at the grocery before going to chapel ( a good thing my taste was for having potato salad for dinner), my getting to visit at the Adoration chapel is at just the right hour. If is around 2:59, and Milton is completing his Holy Hour which ends at 3:00. He comes over and hands me a prayer card of St. Pope JXXIII.
Amazing, because of my contact with St. JXXIII earlier, as the inspiration was there to use his maxim. If all did not transpire as it did, then the prayer card would not be in my hands confirming and giving me great hope. After the incident with the keys, it was like my spirit was a bit disconcerted. Being so super sensitive, it seemed asking the people for help was somewhat of an interruption for them. Had to tell myself, everyone can't handle you with kid gloves, it's time for you to toughen up. Just yesterday, when making the stations of the cross in the Adoration Chapel, a good contemplation at the sixth station helped me to see something not seen before. It helped me to see how when something painful is accepted, or your hurt feelings are offered up, and when there is a peaceful acceptance of something that is happening that is unsuitable to one's taste, this is a good way to wipe the face of Jesus. In this way, you are sharing His pain, and offering a bit of relief. You are in solidarity with The Lord. What He endured, you are enduring, following in a his footsteps. What an excellent opportunity to offer up what is unpleasant for one's own salvation, and that of others. What was currently occurring, was an excellent opportunity for me to wipe the face of Jesus, by accepting the uncomfortable feelings of having the people go out of their way to help me.
In the end, looking back, it was to rejoice over every unfolding minute. So very happy to get the St. JXXIII card in my hands. The feeling from this was that one of my favorite popes was befriending me, and working with me to help bring about a change. Acquiring a pure heart is definitely on the "to do" list. Change is often times painful, but it is so, so, necessary. In time to come, change does bring about great joy. The following scripture is coming to my mind:
📖 John 16:21 "When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world"
Later in the evening, when reading from a new ebook: “The Art of Being a Good Friend”, by Hugh a Black, it was noticed how this book is serving as another aide for helping to bring about a change. After reading this statement: "Jonathan withstood his father’s anger to shield his friend; David was patient with Saul for his son’s sake",something became crystal clear. Not just crystal clear in the head, intellectually, but in the heart,spiritually. This demonstrates that if another is created in the image and likeness of God, and a member of the body of Christ, it is their due to be treated patiently and prayers should always be going up for welfare. The primary reason being that they are the redeemed by The Lord's precious blood, and that they are God's children, my brother or sister. If there is real love in one's heart for God, then it's a must that there be love there for another who is a part of Him, and dear to His heart. This can't be seperated, so my love for God needs to be true and as it increases, so will my love for others grow and be genuine.
My copy of Hugh Black's book was purchased from Sophia Press, but you all get a treat. You can download the kindle edition FREE at Amazon. While searching for an image of the book to be placed in this Ijournal entry, the freebie at Amazon crossed my path. The book covers are different, but it's the same information contained inside each book.
📚 Here is the link where you can download your FREE Kindle copy.
http://www.amazon.com/Friendship-Hugh-Black-ebook/dp/B004TRL8IS/ref=la_B0027NF0CG_1_2_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413653949&sr=1-2
http://www.amazon.com/Friendship-Hugh-Black-ebook/dp/B004TRL8IS/ref=la_B0027NF0CG_1_2_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413653949&sr=1-2
The Potatoes
Gregory of Nazainzen: Oration 43: In Praise of Basil the Great. “We Wanted to Be Christians Together”: St. Gregory Nazainzen's Friendship with St. Basil the Great.
Info from this site: https://wau.org/archives/article/a_life-saving_medicine/
Excerpted from The Liturgy of the Hours:
"Basil and I were both in Athens. We had come, like streams of a river, from the same source in our native land, had separated from each other in pursuit of learning, and were now united again as if by plan, for God so arranged it.
I was not alone at that time in my regard for my friend, the great Basil. I knew his irreproachable conduct and the maturity and wisdom of his conversation. I sought to persuade others, to whom he was less well known, to have the same regard for him. Many fell immediately under his spell, for they had already heard of him by reputation and hearsay… .
Such was the prelude to our friendship, the kindling of that flame that was to bind us together. In this way we began to feel affection for each other. When, in the course of time, we acknowledged our friendship and recognized that our ambition was a life of Christian perfection, we became everything to each other: we shared the same lodging, the same table, the same desires, the same goal. Our love for each other grew daily warmer and deeper.
Our single object and ambition was virtue and a life of hope in the blessings that are to come; we wanted to withdraw from this world before we departed from it. With this end in view, we ordered our lives and all our actions. We followed the guidance of God’s law and spurred each other on to virtue. If it is not too boastful to say, we found in each other a standard and rule for discerning right from wrong.
Different men have different names, which they owe to their parents or to themselves, that is, to their own pursuits and achievements. But our great pursuit, the great name we wanted, was to be Christians, to be called Christians".
The Meat
Book: "The Art of Being a Good Friend", by Hugh Black
Excerpts from the book by Sophia Institute Press:
“David and Jonathan represents the typical friendship. They met and, at the meeting, knew each other to be nearer than kindred. By subtle elective affinity, they felt that they belonged to each other. Out of all the chaos of the time and the disorder of their lives, there arose for these two souls a new and beautiful world, where there
'reigned peace, love, and sweet content'. It was the miracle of the death of self. Jonathan forgot his pride, and David his ambition. It was as the smile of God which changed the world to them. One of them it saved from the temptations of a squalid court, and the other from the sourness of an exile’s life. Jonathan’s princely soul had no room for envy or jealousy. David’s frank nature rose to meet the magnanimity of his friend.
In the kingdom of love, there was no disparity between the king’s son and the shepherd boy. Such a gift as each gave and received is not to be bought or sold. It was the fruit of the innate nobility of both; it softened and tempered a very trying time for both. Jonathan withstood his father’s anger to shield his friend; David was patient with Saul for his son’s sake. They agreed to be true to each other in their difficult position. Close and tender must have been the bond, which had such fruit in princely generosity and mutual loyalty of soul. Fitting was the beautiful lament, when David’s heart was bereaved at tragic Gilboa: “I am distressed for thee “my brother Jonathan; very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.”4 Love is always wonderful, a new creation, fair and fresh to every loving soul. It is the miracle of spring to the cold, dull earth.”
The Dessert
Audio sermon by Fr. Roger Landry: "Loving as Christ Loves Us"
Audio Link: http://catholicpreaching.com/loving-as-christ-loves-us-fifth-friday-of-easter-may-23-2014/
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