Private Vows in The Laity/Spirituality

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The treasurer from our parish St Vinnies rang me earlier today.  She had been into Head Office and the assistant to the office manager sent her regards saying I had been really missed (I used to work voluntary in head office).  It is a good feeling to be remembered fondly.  All in all, I must now have been working voluntary for St Vinnies for over 10 years in both head office and our parish.

Buddie is coughing again and so is back on the codeine, which seems to work for him and supress the cough.  Buddie has separation anxiety and the last couple of days I have had to go out, so today he is sitting in front of the front door.  I guess he figures that if he goes to sleep as he most often does, I can't get out the front door without him knowing.  He is getting old now as is my cat, Missie.  They have been such wonderful loyal and loving companions that I think they deserve my very best in their later years.  I will be striving to give them my best in gratitude for outstanding service and companionship.

Tomorrow and Friday here it will be 105.8F  here.  I have cancelled the Vet appointment on Friday for Buddies arthritis shot and will remake when the weather gets cooler.   It is far too hot to be out and about.   Tomorrow, however, I have a hairdressing appointment and I really need my hair cut, it grows very quickly spring and summer; hence I will be keeping that appointment.  My brother will take me.  At the moment, my hair looks like a wild and wiry mop sitting on top of my head.

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Dear Lord, I thank You for the gift of Buddie and Missie

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Short Biography Blessed Maria Teresa

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When we find that — through God’s grace and forgiveness — we are living spiritually harmonious lives, then we’ll understand that disobedience is without a doubt more horrible than hell, and more painful. Why? Because it goes against the essential grain of our good, God-given nature.

- Julian of Norwich

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God is as willing to heal believers as He is to forgive unbelievers. Know this, if He was merciful enough to forgive you when you were unconverted, He is merciful enough to heal you now that you are in His family! 
- T. L. Osborn

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"Under the slightest
disappointments and afflictions we are apt to fall into discouragement,
and to imagine, by our sloth and impatience, that our situation is of
all others the most unhappy and intolerable. If nature feels, and we
implore the divine mercy, and a deliverance, if this may be conducive to
God's honor, we must be careful never to sink under the trials, or
consent to the least secret murmuring: we must bear them if not with
joy, at least with perfect submission; and remain assured that God only
seems to withdraw himself from us, that we may follow him more
earnestly, and unite ourselves more closely to him

St. Vincent of Zaragossa: January 22 . d. 304."

 

 

"Learn to Preserve Inner Peace" : https://catholicexchange.com/learn-preserve-inner-peace

 

 

 

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St Vincent of Saragossa

A patron saint for perseverance

 

About St Vincent of Saragossa: Most of what we know about this saint comes from the poet Prudentius. His Acts have been rather freely colored by the imagination of their compiler. But Saint Augustine, in one of his sermons on Saint Vincent, speaks of having the Acts of his martyrdom before him. We are at least sure of his name, his being a deacon, the place of his death and burial.

According to the story we have, the unusual devotion he inspired must have had a basis in a very heroic life. Vincent was ordained deacon by his friend Saint Valerius of Zaragossa in Spain. The Roman emperors had published their edicts against the clergy in 303, and the following year against the laity. Vincent and his bishop were imprisoned in Valencia. Hunger and torture failed to break them. Like the youths in the fiery furnace, they seemed to thrive on suffering.

Valerius was sent into exile, and Dacian, the Roman governor, now turned the full force of his fury on Vincent. Tortures that sound very modern were tried. But their main effect was the progressive disintegration of Dacian himself. He had the torturers beaten because they failed.

Finally he suggested a compromise: Would Vincent at least give up the sacred books to be burned according to the emperor’s edict? He would not. Torture on the gridiron continued, the prisoner remaining courageous, the torturer losing control of himself. Vincent was thrown into a filthy prison cell—and converted the jailer. Dacian wept with rage, but strangely enough, ordered the prisoner to be given some rest.

Friends among the faithful came to visit him, but he was to have no earthly rest. When they finally settled him on a comfortable bed, he went to his eternal rest.

 

"Learn to recover your soul’s calmness

https://catholicexchange.com/learn-preserve-inner-peace

Take this rule, whenever you fall into a fault, be it great or small, even though you may have committed the same four thousand times in a day, and always voluntarily and with ad­vertency: never allow yourself to fall into a state of morose bit­terness, and do not be disquieted, nor waste your time by scrutinizing yourself. But at once acknowledge what you have done, and, humbly regarding your own weakness, turn lov­ingly to your God, and say to Him with your lips, or with your mind only, “Lord, I have done this, being what I am, and noth­ing else could be expected from me, save only these and simi­lar faults, and I would not have stopped where I did, had not Thy goodness lifted me up and continued with me. I give Thee thanks for that from which Thou hast preserved me, and I grieve over that which I have done through not corresponding with Thy grace. Pardon me, and give me grace that I may never offend Thee anymore, and may nothing ever separate me from Thee, whom I desire ever to serve and to obey.”

Having done this, do not .........."   Read more on above link

 

"If those who are of an anxious and restless temperament would give heed to what has been here said, they would dis­cover how great is their blindness in thus losing time, to their own great hurt. And this warning should be carefully noted, for it is one of the keys that the soul has for unlocking great spiritual treasures, and thereby for becoming rich in a short time."

Edited January 20, 2018 by BarbaraTherese

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When my husband, James Rowles, was in the seminary, he was invited to preach at a small rural church. However, the man who was to introduce him to the congregation had trouble pronouncing his name. So James 
offered this verbal clue: “Remember rolls, like hot buttered rolls.”
It worked. When it came time 
for the introduction, the man announced, “We are pleased to have with us the Reverend James Biscuits.”

Ruth Rowles, Halifax, Virginia https://www.rd.com/jokes/religion/

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St Vincent de Paul Society

Quote of the Day – January 20

 

"I hope that your past fidelity to these rules and your patience in waiting so long for them will obtain for you from the goodness of God the grace to observe them with greater ease in the future (XII:10)."

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CATACOMBS OF ST. AGNES
Via Nomentana, 349 – 00162 ROME
Phone and Fax: +39 06 86 10 840
santagnese@santagnese.net
www.santagnese.net
Person in charge: Rev. Edoardo Parisotto
Visiting hours: 9:00 – 12:00 / 4:00 – 6:00 p.m.
Closed on Sunday and holiday mornings
Closed in November
Bus ATAC: 90, 60, 36

The famous and very young Roman martyr Agnes was buried in this catacomb on the left side of Via Nomentana where a hypogeum that belonged to her family probably already existed. We know that Agnes died at just twelve years of age and underwent tremendous torments: fire, according to Pope Damasus; decapitation, according to St. Ambrose and Prudentius, while according to others, the veins in her neck were severed. As a matter of fact, devotion to Agnes boomed right after her martyrdom. Roman and foreign pilgrims visited her tomb. She was also venerated very much by Emperor Constantine’s family. The Emperor’s daughter, Constantina (transformed by pious legends into St. Costanza) had a grandiose circular basilica built near the cemetery, of which only some masonry work remains today, and she wanted to be buried near the saint. For this purpose she had a splendid cylindrical mausoleum built, with a dome decorated inside by brightly colored mosaics with cupids gathering grapes. Constantina was buried in a porphyry sarcophagus (which is in the Vatican Museums today. A copy was put in the mausoleum).
On Agnes’ tomb in the catacomb, Pope Honorius I (625-638) had the present-day basilica built, which replaced a more ancient edifice from the time of Pope Symmachus (498-514). The basilica is partially below ground, with a narthex, three naves and a women’s gallery. The apse is decorated with a splendid mosaic representing Agnes between Popes Honorius and Symmachus. The catacomb is rather poorly preserved because it was visited without interruption over the course of the centuries

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"On his blindness" (John Milton)

When I consider how my light is spent

Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,

And that one talent which is death to hide

Lodg'd with me useless, though my soul more bent

To serve therewith my Maker, and present

My true account, lest he returning chide;

"Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?"

I fondly ask. But Patience to prevent

That murmur, soon replies: "God doth not need

Either man's work or his own gifts; who best

Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state

Is kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed

And post o'er land and ocean without rest:

They also serve who only stand and wait."

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Godolphin Horne, Who was Cursed with the Sin of Pride, and Became a Boot-Black

By Hilaire Belloc

Godolphin Horne was Nobly Born;   

He held the Human Race in Scorn,   

And lived with all his Sisters where  His Father lived, in Berkeley Square.   

And oh! the Lad was Deathly Proud!   He never shook your Hand or Bowed,   

But merely smirked and nodded thus:   

How perfectly ridiculous!

Alas! That such Affected Tricks   

Should flourish in a Child of Six!

(For such was Young Godolphin's age).   

Just then, the Court required a Page,   

Whereat the Lord High Chamberlain   

(The Kindest and the Best of Men),   

He went good-naturedly and took   

A Perfectly Enormous Book

Called People Qualified to Be

Attendant on His Majesty,

And murmured, as he scanned the list   

(To see that no one should be missed),   

'There's William Coutts has got the Flu,   

And Billy Higgs would never do,   

And Guy de Vere is far too young,

And. . . wasn't D'Alton's Father hung?   

And as for Alexander Byng!—. . .   

I think I know the kind of thing,   

A Churchman, cleanly, nobly born,   

Come let us say Godolphin Horne?'   

But hardly had he said the word   

When Murmurs of Dissent were heard.   

The King of Iceland's Eldest Son

Said, 'Thank you! I am taking none!'   

The Aged Duchess of Athlone   

Remarked, in her sub-acid tone,   

'I doubt if He is what we need!'   

With which the Bishops all agreed;   

And even Lady Mary Flood

(So Kind, and oh! so really good)   

Said, 'No! He wouldn't do at all,   

He'd make us feel a lot too small.'

The Chamberlain said, ' . . . Well, well, well!   

No doubt you're right . . . One cannot tell!'

He took his Gold and Diamond Pen   

And Scratched Godolphin out again.   

So now Godolphin is the Boy   

Who blacks the Boots at the Savoy.

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The soul which has come into intimate contact with God

in the silence of the prayer chamber

is never out of conscious touch with the Father;

the heart is always going out to Him in loving communion,

and the moment the mind is released from the task upon which it is engaged,

it returns as naturally to God as the bird does to its nest.

What a beautiful conception of prayer we get if we regard it in this light.

 

- E. M Bounds

 

 

 

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“Turn your eye to God’s will and see how he wills all the works of his mercy and justice, in heaven and on earth and under the earth. Then with profound humility, accept, praise, and then bless this sovereign will, which is entirely holy, just, and beautiful.”

—St. Francis de Sales, Roses Among Thorns

 

 

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A Little Boy's Explanation of God

The following was written by an 8 year old, who lives in Chula Vista CA, USA.  He wrote it for his third grade homework assignment to 'explain God':
 

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God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere, which keeps Him pretty busy.  So you shouldn't go wasting his time by going over your mum and dad's head and asking for something they said you couldn't have.

God doesn't have time to listen to the radio or TV because of all the prayers He listens to.  Because He hears everything, there must be a terrible lot of noise in His ears....unless He has thought of a way to turn it off.

 

(More explanations of God by the 8 year old in later posts)

 

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Catholic Answers https://www.catholic.com/qa/two-views-of-the-flood

Full Question:

How did the polar bears and penguins reach Noah's ark?

Answer: That’s a good question. The answer depends on what actually happened in history.

The Catholic Church does not prohibit interpretations of Genesis 6-8 that include a worldwide flood, but neither does the Church require there to be a worldwide flood in all interpretations of these passages. Instead, according to Pope Pius XII, “in simple and metaphorical language adapted to the mentality of a people but little cultured,” the first eleven chapters of Genesis “both state the principal truths which are fundamental for our salvation, and also give a popular description of the origin of the human race and the chosen people” (Humani Generis 38).

Consequently, the flood could be understood as impacting the entire world, or possibly a large region of the world. If it did impact the entire world, animals in distant regions would likely have been miraculously transported to the ark.

On the other hand, if the flood was more regional, a view which has gained increasing traction in recent centuries because of scientific findings, then all the animals of the world would not have been destroyed, and thus polar bears and penguins would not have been affected.

For more on this topic, please see this article in Catholic Answer Magazine Online.

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Four Ingredient Recipe

Satay Chicken

Ingredients (serves 4)

1 tbsp. red curry paste

500g boneless, skinless chicken breast fillets

2 tbsp. crunchy peanut butter

¾ cup (190ml) cream

Method

In a non-stick pan, over medium heat the red curry paste until fragrant, 1 minute.

Add the chicken and seal, stirring to evenly cook.

Add the peanut butter and mix.

Then add the cream, stir to combine. Reduce heat and simmer until the chicken is cooked, about 4 minutes.