| The Power of Silence |  | | It's hard to put your foot in your mouth...if it's shut. Silence can be powerful. Scripture doesn't record one word from St. Joseph. | | |
St. John Baptist de la Salle
(1651-1719)
 Complete dedication to what he saw as God's will for him dominated the life of John Baptist de la Salle. In 1950, Pope Pius XII named him patron of schoolteachers for his efforts in upgrading school instruction. As a young 17th-century Frenchman, John had everything going for him: scholarly bent, good looks, noble family background, money, refined upbringing. At the early age of 11, he received the tonsure and started preparation for the priesthood, to which he was ordained at 27. He seemed assured then of a life of dignified ease and a high position in the Church.
But God had other plans for John, which were gradually revealed to him in the next several years. During a chance meeting with M. Nyel of Raven, he became interested in the creation of schools for poor boys in Raven, where he was stationed. Though the work was extremely distasteful to him at first, he became more involved in working with the deprived youths. Once convinced that this was his divinely appointed mission, John threw himself wholeheartedly into the work, left home and family, abandoned his position as canon at Rheims, gave away his fortune and reduced himself to the level of the poor to whom he devoted his entire life. The remainder of his life was closely entwined with the community of religious men he founded, the Brothers of the Christian School (Christian Brothers, or De La Salle Brothers). This community grew rapidly and was successful in educating boys of poor families, using methods designed by John. It prepare teachers in the first training college for teachers and also set up homes and schools for young delinquents of wealthy families. The motivating element in all these endeavors was the desire to become a good Christian. Yet even in his success, John did not escape experiencing many trials: heartrending disappointment and defections among his disciples, bitter opposition from the secular schoolmasters who resented his new and fruitful methods, and persistent opposition from the Jansenists of his time, whose moral rigidity and pessimism abut the human condition John resisted vehemently all his life. Afflicted with asthma and rheumatism in his last years, he died on Good Friday at 68 and was canonized in 1900.
"What is nobler than to mold the character of the young? I consider that he who knows how to form the youthful mind is truly greater than all painters, sculptors and all others of that sort" (St. John Chrysostom).
Teachers
 Saint of the DayLives, Lessons and FeastBy Leonard Foley, O.F.M.; revised by Pat McCloskey, O.F.M.
Presence "Be still and know that I am God."
Lord, Your words lead us to the
calmness and greatness of Your Presence. Freedom Lord, may I never take the gift
of freedom for granted. You gave
me the great blessing of freedom of
spirit. Fill my spirit with Your peace and
Your joy. Consciousness To be conscious about something is to be aware of it. Dear Lord help me to remember that You gave me life. Thank you for the gift of life. Teach me to slow down, to be still and enjoy the pleasures created for me.
To be aware of the beauty that surrounds me. The marvel of mountains, the calmness of lakes, the fragility of a flower petal. I need to remember that all these things come from you. The Word of God Tuesday in the Octave of Easter On the day of Pentecost, Peter said to the Jewish people,
"Let the whole house of Israel know for certain
that God has made him both Lord and Christ,
this Jesus whom you crucified."
Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart,
and they asked Peter and the other Apostles,
"What are we to do, my brothers?"
Peter said to them,
"Repent and be baptized, every one of you,
in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins;
and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
For the promise is made to you and to your children
and to all those far off,
whomever the Lord our God will call."
He testified with many other arguments, and was exhorting them,
"Save yourselves from this corrupt generation."
Those who accepted his message were baptized,
and about three thousand persons were added that day. R. (5b) The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield.
May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us
who have put our hope in you.
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia. R. Alleluia, alleluia.
This is the day the LORD has made;
let us be glad and rejoice in it.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Mary Magdalene stayed outside the tomb weeping.
And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb
and saw two angels in white sitting there,
one at the head and one at the feet
where the Body of Jesus had been.
And they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?"
She said to them, "They have taken my Lord,
and I don't know where they laid him."
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there,
but did not know it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?
Whom are you looking for?"
She thought it was the gardener and said to him,
"Sir, if you carried him away,
tell me where you laid him,
and I will take him."
Jesus said to her, "Mary!"
She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni,"
which means Teacher.
Jesus said to her, "Stop holding on to me,
for I have not yet ascended to the Father.
But go to my brothers and tell them,
'I am going to my Father and your Father,
to my God and your God.'"
Mary went and announced to the disciples,
"I have seen the Lord,"
and then reported what he had told her.
Conversation Conversation requires talking and listening. As I talk to Jesus may I also learn to be still and listen. I picture the gentleness in His eyes and the smile full of love as he gazes on me. I can be totally honest with Jesus as I tell Him of my worries and my cares. I will open up my heart to Him as I tell Him of my fears and my doubts. I will ask Him to help me to place myself fully in His care, to abandon myself to Him, knowing that He always wants what is best for me. Conclusion Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end.
 Meditation: John 20:11-18 Subscriber? Login to view archives. Tuesday within the Octave of Easter Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping. (John 20:11) Place a straw in a clear glass of water. Doesn't it look a bit distorted in its new place? Or try looking out your window during a rainstorm. Doesn't the water on the windowpane blur your view? This is called refraction, the same process by which eyeglasses can help correct a person's vision. Sometimes our spiritual vision gets distorted too, and we need help to correct it. This is one way of looking at what happened to Mary Magdalene in today's Gospel reading. She was so distraught at Jesus' empty tomb that all she could see was a conspiracy to remove his dead body. Her vision was so skewed that even when Jesus stood before her, all she could see was a gardener. But then, as Pope Francis put it, "rather than feel like she had failed again, she simply cries. Sometimes in our lives tears are the lenses we need to see Jesus." It's ironic, but Mary's tears corrected her vision. As she unburdened herself of all her grief and loss, she could finally see Jesus as her beloved "Rabbouni" (John 20:16). In a way, she fulfilled the words of the psalmist: "Those who sow in tears will reap with cries of joy" (Psalm 126:5). Pope Francis went on to say, "Let us ask the Lord to give us the grace of tears—it's a beautiful grace—and ask for the grace to be able to say with our lives, 'I have seen the Lord, not because he appeared to me, but because I saw him with my heart.' " When was the last time you felt overwhelmed and couldn't find a way through your confusion, bitterness, or grief? Jesus loves to meet us in situations like these. He doesn't look down on us for losing our hope or faith. Quite the contrary! As he did for Mary Magdalene, he rushes to our side to comfort us and give us new insight and new direction. So keep your eyes open. Be like Mary, and look again. And again. And again. Look until you can find the Lord. May our hearts always be open to the surprising presence of the Lord! "Risen Lord, help me soften my heart so that I can see you ever before me!" Acts 2:36-41; Psalm 33:4-5, 18-20, 22
my2cents:
Peter said to the people they had done wrong, and the people repented, and were baptized. This is what God wants. To be baptized means to die to former self, the natural self and live in the newness of life that is brought about by the resurrection. So how would you react if someone told you that you done wrong? Not many would take it very well. Shame? Not many. Why is it that in our world it's hard to take a truth? Let's say for example I told you "you have raised your kids wrong". Ohh man, this would aggrevate the hardest of hearts. But it is also a truth. You did not teach them to love the Lord with all their heart mind and soul. And now that they are wandering the world, what can you do? Don't you feel a loss, like "now what do I do?". This is what Mary Magdalene must have felt "now what do I do?".
The Psalms of Christ pray "See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him, upon those who hope for his kindness, To deliver them from death and preserve them in spite of famine." Mary Magdalene used to live a life of darkness before she encountered the Lord and repented and was baptized and saved. She then began to fear the Lord and this kept her from darkness. She hoped for His kindness, weeping by the tomb. "The earth is full of the Goodness of the Lord" we pray. And how is it that the one in the garden, the gardener, representative of Adam, the one in the first garden, is now Jesus? He destroyed that sin, and that death, that curse brought upon by the devil. I want you now to realize you are free.
Yesterday, nobody was there for the community rosary. Where are the freed souls from Easter now? Just the brother that leads is there and as I walk in, I see that all around the floor around the baptismal fountain was water "is there a leak? what's going on here?" I asked the brother, he said he didn't know. I walked closer and saw tracks, drenches of water leading to the altar, and as I followed them some more, the led to the Blessed Sacrament. "Look, they go all the way over here!" and we saw puddles of water there. Brother said something which I didn't hear. Before the rosary between us two, I knelt to pray before the Blessed Sacrament, and as I sat back down I noticed my knees were wet, "oh man, the kneeler was wet!" I exclaimed. He said "that's what I was telling you". Funny how we don't pay attention sometimes right? What goes on in our life that we fail to pay attention? And what if the Lord is trying to speak to you? Because it just so happens we can't stand the silence. Our world keeps you drugged to sense you need noise, stuff to fill your life, anything and every thing except the Truth of our Lord.
So what if I told you "hey, last week God was telling you to see Him and you didn't go". What if Jesus is appearing more often than you care to imagine? Because every time He appears, the followers could not recognize Him.
I want you to recognize. That is why I write to you. I know who I am writing to you, and if I don't know you, it does not matter, because Jesus knows, and I believe in the power of Jesus, and how naturally loving that power is.
My little boy asked me last night what God is made of, since we are all made of human parts. I said "He is made of love and spirit and stuff we don't know about". I said "and you were made of love because God is love" and then I had to try to explain that one. It has to start registering right now. We have lost a generation of children to abortions and the future will be lost to a perverse vision of the family, due to sexual so called "orientation" which I call "presentation" that the world is offering and this is a truth that many do not want to hear. I asked Father yesterday who had splashed all the water from the baptismal font and he said the only person he could think of was a drug addict person he was praying for earlier that day. Funny. A sinner, trying to baptize themselves maybe?
No. It is Mary Magdalene looking for Jesus, the Savior. It is the story of you and me. I couldn't see who it was, but I could follow their footsteps of faith, leading to the savior in the Blessed Sacrament. And this gives hope. I am hopeful if I am of Christ. I am praying that you will be that Truth now that you have heard it and take it to heart.
I've been at this church thing for years now, and I'm realizing, the only people we can depend on are those hardcore sinners (like Mary Magdelene) that have repented and seek the Lord full time.
Enough with those not showing up to work. Enough with part timers. I want you full time in the presence of God. I pray for you who read this, because it is being entrusted to you the message the Lord gave to Mary, the evangelizer of the Living Word come back from the dead for us all to live forever...
 adrian
podcast:http://www.hipcast.com/podcast/HS2yJb
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