 clickable | | Generosity and Kindness Toward All Pierre Toussaint's life really is a remarkable one that leaves you saying, "That's incredible." It is hard to believe that a man would remain enslaved just because his widowed owner needed him. It is also a stretch to understand how one man could endure racial indignities, even in his church, yet continue to nurture his Catholic spirit of philanthropy and good will. How does such a person manage to remain positive amid every obstacle and emerge as a pillar of courage and strength both for his oppressors and supporters? These were the remarkable aspects of Pierre Toussaint's life. Pierre Toussaint, how did you have the compassion, strength and patience to survive slavery and the evil of your day? You were willing to serve others, even when others hated and despised you. You loved those close to you, but how did you love your enemies too? Please teach us your ways of responsibility, generosity, and kindness toward all men and women. —from African Saints, African Stories: 40 Holy Men and Women |  MorningOffering.com | †Saint Quote
May 28, 2019
"Helping a person in need is good in itself. But the degree of goodness is hugely affected by the attitude with which it is done. If you show resentment because you are helping the person out of a reluctant sense of duty, then the person may receive your help but may feel awkward and embarrassed. This is because he will feel beholden to you. If, on the other hand, you help the person in a spirit of joy, then the help will be received joyfully. The person will feel neither demeaned nor humiliated by your help, but rather will feel glad to have caused you pleasure by receiving your help. And joy is the appropriate attitude with which to help others because acts of generosity are a source of blessing to the giver as well as the receiver."
— St. John Chrysostom †Meditation of the Day
"Teresa [of Avila] is as insistent as [St. John of the Cross] that there is no prayer development unless it be accompanied by purification from faults. Given what a love communion with utter Purity demands, one could not conceive the matter to be otherwise: only the pure can commune deeply with the all-pure One. Obvious as this is to the saint, the lesser of us have difficulty in understanding that we have many defects that need to be rooted out. ... In working actively at rooting out what is amiss, we are to be guided by the principles of revelation, not by a naturalistic common sense. There are people, says Teresa, who desire penance that they may serve God the better, but they are overly careful about not injuring their health. 'You need never fear that they will kill themselves . . . their love is not yet ardent enough to overwhelm their reason.' Going on 'at a snail's pace . . . we shall never get to the end of the road . . . So for the love of the Lord, let us make a real effort.'"
— Fr. Thomas Dubay, p. 113
An Excerpt From †Verse of the Day
"Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life and honor. One wise person went up against a city of warriors and brought down the stronghold in which they trusted."
Proverbs 21:21-22 |  click to read more | | St. Bernard Montjoux St. Bernard of Montjoux (c. 923–1008 A.D.), also known as St. Bernard of Menthon, was born to a wealthy and noble family in the Kingdom of Arles (present day France and Switzerland). As an adult he refused an honorable marriage and determined instead to give his life in service to the Church. He became a priest in northern Italy and spent more than four decades doing missionary work in the Alps. He built schools and churches, and is especially known for aiding travelers. The area where he ministered had an ancient, snowy, and dangerous pass winding through the mountains along which pilgrims traveled to and from Rome. To serve the pilgrims St. Bernard built a hospice at the highest point of the pass, 8,000 feet above sea level. Later he founded another hospice along another smaller pass. St. Bernard obtained papal approval for communities of priests to serve in the hospices, which have generously aided travelers for more than a millennium. The priests and their well-trained dogs (the St. Bernard breed named for the saint) would seek and rescue lost pilgrims. St. Bernard was declared the patron saint of skiers and mountain climbers by Pope Pius XI in 1923. His feast day is celebrated on May 28th. | Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Easter Reading 1 Acts 16:22-34 The crowd in Philippi joined in the attack on Paul and Silas,
and the magistrates had them stripped
and ordered them to be beaten with rods.
After inflicting many blows on them,
they threw them into prison
and instructed the jailer to guard them securely.
When he received these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell
and secured their feet to a stake. About midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying
and singing hymns to God as the prisoners listened,
there was suddenly such a severe earthquake
that the foundations of the jail shook;
all the doors flew open, and the chains of all were pulled loose.
When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open,
he drew his sword and was about to kill himself,
thinking that the prisoners had escaped.
But Paul shouted out in a loud voice,
"Do no harm to yourself; we are all here."
He asked for a light and rushed in and,
trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas.
Then he brought them out and said,
"Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus
and you and your household will be saved."
So they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house.
He took them in at that hour of the night and bathed their wounds;
then he and all his family were baptized at once.
He brought them up into his house and provided a meal
and with his household rejoiced at having come to faith in God. Responsorial Psalm Ps 138:1-2ab, 2cde-3, 7c-8 R. (7c) Your right hand saves me, O Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple,
and give thanks to your name.
R. Your right hand saves me, O Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Because of your kindness and your truth,
you have made great above all things
your name and your promise.
When I called, you answered me;
you built up strength within me.
R. Your right hand saves me, O Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Your right hand saves me.
The LORD will complete what he has done for me;
your kindness, O LORD, endures forever;
forsake not the work of your hands.
R. Your right hand saves me, O Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia. Alleluia See Jn 16:7, 13 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I will send to you the Spirit of truth, says the Lord;
he will guide you to all truth.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Jn 16:5-11 Jesus said to his disciples:
"Now I am going to the one who sent me,
and not one of you asks me, 'Where are you going?'
But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts.
But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go.
For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you.
But if I go, I will send him to you.
And when he comes he will convict the world
in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation:
sin, because they do not believe in me;
righteousness, because I am going to the Father
and you will no longer see me;
condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned."
| Meditation: John 16:5-11 6th Week of Easter It is better for you that I go. (John 16:7) Do you actually believe you have it "better" than the first disciples? It's easy to wish we had been alive when Jesus walked the earth, but he tells us in today's Gospel that we are actually better off with him in heaven. This is another one of those puzzling remarks of Jesus that needs some unpacking. Jesus had just told his friends that he was about to be put to death. It's natural to expect fear and grief to overwhelm them. Not only was their leader about to leave them—apparently without ushering in the kingdom they were waiting for—but their lives could also be in danger. And yet he tells them that it's better for them that all of this happen. How is that possible? The answer, as in so many other passages, is the Holy Spirit. When Jesus walked the earth, he was in only one place at a time. He could say only one thing at a time. And there were times when he couldn't say or do anything because he was asleep! But following his death, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to live in his followers, the Spirit who never sleeps nor slumbers. This Spirit came to help the disciples understand and embrace all that Jesus had done for them. This Spirit enabled them to travel far and wide carrying the good news with them. Wherever they went, they prayed for new believers to be filled with that same Holy Spirit. Then those new believers extended God's kingdom even farther. Jesus could not possibly have accomplished all that while still on earth. Guess what? The Holy Spirit wasn't just for the early Church. He's in you as well! He is also at work in your family, your neighborhood, and your workplace. He's there to help you understand God's word in a deeper way. He's there to help you listen patiently to someone who is hurting and feels alone. He's there to inspire you with a solution for a persistent problem. He's there to give you the strength to walk through the problems that have no solution. And through it all, he is there to help you love Jesus more. It really is better that Jesus has gone and has sent the Holy Spirit, isn't it? "Jesus, thank you for making my life even better than the apostles' lives!" Acts 16:22-34
Psalm 138:1-3, 7-8 |  clickable | Suffering is part of Jesus' mission. His power to effect conversion stems from the fact that he is ready to endure the hatred of those he loves. He can conquer this hatred only by a love that is all the greater, a love that is stronger than death.
—Christoph Cardinal Schönborn
from The Evangelizing Parish | 2cents:
"Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved."
Almost everyone I speak with says they believe...something, in something. But that's as far as it goes. They do not seek...more.
Here, you are seeking more, but what about them? Soon we'll hear about a jailer in the same situation. | But first, let us pray: "Your right hand saves me. The LORD will complete what he has done for me; your kindness, O LORD, endures forever; forsake not the work of your hands. Your right hand saves me, O Lord." The work of His hands is the formation of you and your soul. Yes He made a beautiful world, and allowed freedom. Yes, He has created another world a million times more exquisite. And yes, He has created the most beautiful of angels and beings. But all eyes are on you. You He desires and loves, like parents waiting for their children to come home.
You come to Daddy. Be His. Be Totally His. | And Paul is totally His, singing hymns, locked in the darkest of dungeons, chained by the feet to the ground. The echoes of the songs praising God in the darkness echoed out the doors and reached the doors of Heaven. The earth trembles. Just like when it did when our Lord was crucified. He releases the prisoners, again. Only, these prisoners of the world are free. Whence the doors opened, they did not run out and run for their lives. Instead, they remained, amazed and together. The jailer, on the other hand, was about to commit suicide. This is the end of one who is not with the Lord. But salvation comes to him as well. "Do no harm to yourself we are all here..." for you. There are many amazing fronts here. First, faith. Second, faith reaching out. Third, the Holy Spirit at work. Our Lord created us, and spoke with us and still does. First, direct, walking with God with Adam and Eve. Second, physically walking in the new garden with Jesus. Third, He now walks with every single soul...in the Holy Spirit. He has come from one level, to a deeper level, and now in the most intimate ways...a whisper away. I believe. Do you? And He is not even a whisper away any longer, to those in full communion, to those in total belief, He is there...one thought away. That is why He said "But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you." Can God change aspects of Himself to be more intimately tied with you? What if He said there is one more way coming? Now you'll have yet another prophecy to believe and to wait for. Yet He did. He said He would return. Do you believe? At the end of time, time will cease to exist. Only what He desires to continue will exist. Let us ponder this tremendous thought: God loves you and wants you with Him through thick and thin...and for ever and ever.
Amazing. |  hear it read | adrian Random Bible Verse1
John 14:27 (Listen) 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. Thank You Jesus | |
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