February 28, 2011
Consecration to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary
The Hearts of Jesus and Mary
The image of the two hearts speaks to us of their infinite love toward people, toward each parish, each family, and each individual. When we speak of Jesus' and Mary's hearts we think of Jesus and Mary under the aspect of the richness of their inner lives, especially of their love for the Father and all people. Mankind today needs God's goodness, love and mercy more than ever. We share in this in consecration to Jesus' and Mary's hearts and in living out this consecration.
Their love towards sinful mankind reveals itself from the time of Jesus' birth in the stable of Bethlehem to his death on the cross on Golgotha. Their love is so wonderful especially because it is a love that has experienced crucifixion.
In the acknowledgement of their love, Jesus and Mary want to lead us to selfless love of God and our neighbor which is the core of holiness to which we are called. Because they love us they want to save mankind that has gone astray. The messages of Fatima also speak about this. It is necessary for us to believe in their love and trust them in order to commit ourselves to them totally. They will renew our hearts so that we will begin to think, speak, work and love as they do.
Jesus assured Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque that tepid Christians who would consecrate themselves to the heart of Jesus would become fervent, and the fervent ones would rise quickly to great perfection.
With consecration to Mary, we commit ourselves to Jesus: our souls and bodies, our spiritual progress, our prayers, sacrifices, good deeds, hidden spiritual struggles,
our state of health, our families, acquaintances and friends, our profession and all our material goods.
A new life starts in us, formed after the hearts of Jesus and Mary. When we consecrate ourselves to the hearts of Jesus and Mary consciously, they too give themselves to us in a new way. It's a covenant of two loves. When we commit ourselves to Jesus and Mary we become their property. They will take care of us as their property. All for Jesus through Mary!
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us and for all the names we receive through this baby prayer ministry.
February 26, 2011
Everything for Jesus, through the hands of Mary, His Mother and ours.
When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, “Woman behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” John 19:26-27
From Fr. John Corapi
The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Mother of the Church, spiritual Mother of each one of us, cannot be ignored without doing violence to the Gospels. She is surely at the very heart of salvation history if for no other reason that she is with her Son from beginning to end. To gain an appreciation of just how involved she is in redemption history, meditate on the twenty mysteries of the Rosary. This gives us a good look at her true place in the Gospels.
Although she is surely the Mother of God as the great Church councils have asserted, and she is the Mother of the Church, as Pope Paul VI proclaimed, she is also a personal spiritual Mother to each and every one of us. To enter into the mystery of Mary is to enter into the mystery of Jesus Christ. Her only true desire is to bring Jesus to us and to bring us to Jesus. One of the great secrets of the spiritual life is to enter into a true and personal relationship with Mary our Mother. Once the soul seeks to draw close to Mary, great things will begin to happen. She will intercede for us and great strides in the spiritual life will take place if only we follow her, especially in her humility.
Since the very beginning of my priesthood, I have emphasized this relationship with Our Lady and the prayer of her Rosary. It is one of the three pillars of my preaching. “Everything for Jesus through the hands of Mary, His Mother and ours.”
From Fr. John Corapi
The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Mother of the Church, spiritual Mother of each one of us, cannot be ignored without doing violence to the Gospels. She is surely at the very heart of salvation history if for no other reason that she is with her Son from beginning to end. To gain an appreciation of just how involved she is in redemption history, meditate on the twenty mysteries of the Rosary. This gives us a good look at her true place in the Gospels.
Although she is surely the Mother of God as the great Church councils have asserted, and she is the Mother of the Church, as Pope Paul VI proclaimed, she is also a personal spiritual Mother to each and every one of us. To enter into the mystery of Mary is to enter into the mystery of Jesus Christ. Her only true desire is to bring Jesus to us and to bring us to Jesus. One of the great secrets of the spiritual life is to enter into a true and personal relationship with Mary our Mother. Once the soul seeks to draw close to Mary, great things will begin to happen. She will intercede for us and great strides in the spiritual life will take place if only we follow her, especially in her humility.
Since the very beginning of my priesthood, I have emphasized this relationship with Our Lady and the prayer of her Rosary. It is one of the three pillars of my preaching. “Everything for Jesus through the hands of Mary, His Mother and ours.”
February 25, 2011
To Jesus through Mary
To you, Mother of the human family, we confidently entrust all of humanity with its hopes and fears. Give us the light of true wisdom. Guide our steps on the ways of peace. Enable all to meet Christ, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
With Mary Let us Adore Him!
St. Peter Julian Eymard
Mary devoted herself exclusively to the Eucharistic Glory of Jesus. She knew that it was the desire of the Eternal Father to make the Eucharist known, loved and served by all men; that need of Jesus’ Heart was to communicate to all men His gifts of grace and glory. She knew, too, that it was the mission of the Holy Spirit to extend and perfect in the hearts of men, the reign of Jesus Christ, and that the Church had been founded only to give Jesus to the world.
All Mary’s desire, then, was to make Him known in His Sacrament. Her intense love for Jesus felt the need of expanding in this way, of consecrating itself - as a kind of relief, as it were - because of her own inability to glorify Him as much as she desired.
Ever since Calvary, all men were her children. She loved them with a Mother’s tenderness and longed for their supreme good as for her own; therefore, she was consumed with the desire to make Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament known to all, to inflame all hearts with His love, to see them enchained to His loving service.
To obtain this favor, Mary passed her time at the foot of the Most Adorable Sacrament, in prayer and penance. There she treated the world’s salvation. In her boundless zeal, she embraced the needs of the faithful everywhere, for all time to come, who would inherit the Holy Eucharist and be Its adorers. Her prayers converted countless souls, and as every conversion is the fruit of prayer, and since Mary’s prayer could meet no refusal, the Apostles had in this Mother of Mercy their most powerful helper. "Blessed is he for whom Mary prays!"
Eucharistic adorers share Mary’s life and mission of prayer at the foot of the Most Blessed Sacrament. It is the most beautiful of all missions, and it holds no perils. It is the most holy, for in it all the virtues are practiced. We must have true adorers; that is to say, men of fervor and of sacrifice. When there are many such souls around their Divine Chief, God will be glorified, Jesus will be loved, and society will once more become Christian, conquered for Jesus Christ by the apostolate of Eucharistic prayer.
With Mary Let us Adore Him!
St. Peter Julian Eymard
Mary devoted herself exclusively to the Eucharistic Glory of Jesus. She knew that it was the desire of the Eternal Father to make the Eucharist known, loved and served by all men; that need of Jesus’ Heart was to communicate to all men His gifts of grace and glory. She knew, too, that it was the mission of the Holy Spirit to extend and perfect in the hearts of men, the reign of Jesus Christ, and that the Church had been founded only to give Jesus to the world.
All Mary’s desire, then, was to make Him known in His Sacrament. Her intense love for Jesus felt the need of expanding in this way, of consecrating itself - as a kind of relief, as it were - because of her own inability to glorify Him as much as she desired.
Ever since Calvary, all men were her children. She loved them with a Mother’s tenderness and longed for their supreme good as for her own; therefore, she was consumed with the desire to make Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament known to all, to inflame all hearts with His love, to see them enchained to His loving service.
To obtain this favor, Mary passed her time at the foot of the Most Adorable Sacrament, in prayer and penance. There she treated the world’s salvation. In her boundless zeal, she embraced the needs of the faithful everywhere, for all time to come, who would inherit the Holy Eucharist and be Its adorers. Her prayers converted countless souls, and as every conversion is the fruit of prayer, and since Mary’s prayer could meet no refusal, the Apostles had in this Mother of Mercy their most powerful helper. "Blessed is he for whom Mary prays!"
Eucharistic adorers share Mary’s life and mission of prayer at the foot of the Most Blessed Sacrament. It is the most beautiful of all missions, and it holds no perils. It is the most holy, for in it all the virtues are practiced. We must have true adorers; that is to say, men of fervor and of sacrifice. When there are many such souls around their Divine Chief, God will be glorified, Jesus will be loved, and society will once more become Christian, conquered for Jesus Christ by the apostolate of Eucharistic prayer.
February 20, 2011
Blessed Francisco and Blessed Jacinta, the children of Fatima and Our Lady of the Rosary
Today is the Feast Day of two of the children of Fatima, Blessed Francisco and Blessed Jacinta. In Fatima, Portugal, Our Blessed Mother appeared to them and their cousin Lucia and said, "I am the Lady of the Rosary."
Francisco Marto (June 11,1908-April 4,1919) and Jacinta Marto (March 11,1910-February 20,1920) were born in Aljustrel, a village in the parish of Fatima. In the company of their cousin Lucia, they saw an angel three times, and the Virgin Mary six times who urged them to pray and do penance for the remission of sins, and to obtain the conversion of sinners.
At the first appearance, Mary asked the children to return to that spot on the thirteenth of each month for the next six months. She also asked them to learn to read and write and to pray the rosary “to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war.” They were to pray for sinners and for the conversion of Russia, which had recently overthrown Czar Nicholas II and was soon to fall under communism. Up to 90,000 people gathered for Mary’s final apparition on October 13, 1917. From then on they had only one aspiration: to pray and suffer according to the Angel and Our Lady's requests.
Less than two years later, Francisco died of influenza in his family home. He was buried in the parish cemetery and then re-buried in the Fatima basilica in 1952. Jacinta died of influenza in Lisbon, offering her suffering for the conversion of sinners, peace in the world and the Holy Father. She was re-buried in the Fatima basilica in 1951. Their cousin, Lucia dos Santos, became a Carmelite nun and was still living when Jacinta and Francisco were beatified in 2000. Sister Lucia died five years later. The shrine of Our Lady of Fatima is visited by up to 20 million people a year. In Fatima on 13th May 2000, Pope John Paul II inscribed their names among the Beatified.
PRAYER FOR THEIR CANONIZATION
Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, I adore
Thee profoundly and I thank Thee for the Apparitions
of the Most Holy Virgin in Fatima.
By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
and through the intercession of the Immaculate Heart
of Mary I implore Thee - if it should be for Thy greater
glory and the good of our souls - to glorify in the
spirit of Thy Holy Church blessed Francisco and
Jacinta, granting us through their intercession the
grace which we implore. Amen.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father.
Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us and all the names we receive through this ministry for the babies and little ones.
Francisco Marto (June 11,1908-April 4,1919) and Jacinta Marto (March 11,1910-February 20,1920) were born in Aljustrel, a village in the parish of Fatima. In the company of their cousin Lucia, they saw an angel three times, and the Virgin Mary six times who urged them to pray and do penance for the remission of sins, and to obtain the conversion of sinners.
At the first appearance, Mary asked the children to return to that spot on the thirteenth of each month for the next six months. She also asked them to learn to read and write and to pray the rosary “to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war.” They were to pray for sinners and for the conversion of Russia, which had recently overthrown Czar Nicholas II and was soon to fall under communism. Up to 90,000 people gathered for Mary’s final apparition on October 13, 1917. From then on they had only one aspiration: to pray and suffer according to the Angel and Our Lady's requests.
Less than two years later, Francisco died of influenza in his family home. He was buried in the parish cemetery and then re-buried in the Fatima basilica in 1952. Jacinta died of influenza in Lisbon, offering her suffering for the conversion of sinners, peace in the world and the Holy Father. She was re-buried in the Fatima basilica in 1951. Their cousin, Lucia dos Santos, became a Carmelite nun and was still living when Jacinta and Francisco were beatified in 2000. Sister Lucia died five years later. The shrine of Our Lady of Fatima is visited by up to 20 million people a year. In Fatima on 13th May 2000, Pope John Paul II inscribed their names among the Beatified.
PRAYER FOR THEIR CANONIZATION
Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, I adore
Thee profoundly and I thank Thee for the Apparitions
of the Most Holy Virgin in Fatima.
By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
and through the intercession of the Immaculate Heart
of Mary I implore Thee - if it should be for Thy greater
glory and the good of our souls - to glorify in the
spirit of Thy Holy Church blessed Francisco and
Jacinta, granting us through their intercession the
grace which we implore. Amen.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father.
Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us and all the names we receive through this ministry for the babies and little ones.
February 19, 2011
Think of Mary. Call on Mary.
“MARIAM COGITA, MARIAM INVOCA”
From a homily by Saint Bernard on the Blessed Virgin
Two centuries ago, Venerable Pio Bruno Lanteri (1759-1830) served the Church in the Piedmont region of Northern Italy. It was a turbulent era in secular society and there was an anti-Christian spirit of the French Revolution. Heresies obscured the truth of God’s love and undermined the authority of the Pope.
The young Lanteri met a Jesuit priest, Father Nikolaus von Diessbach. Under his guidance, Lanteri made the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius and had a profound experience of the infinite mercy of God. He became an ardent witness to God’s mercy through intense and varied apostolates as a diocesan priest in Turin. He preached the Spiritual Exercises and popular missions, offered spiritual direction and confession, circulated Catholic books, supported lay and priestly associations, and provided real care for the needy. In all this, he was always careful to guide people “to the truth in love,” showing the utmost goodness to all and trying to help everyone to seek genuine holiness. Father Lanteri always pointed to fidelity to the Church and fidelity to Mary as the certain guiding lights along the path of the Christian life.
In 1814, three zealous priests came to Father Lanteri for guidance in forming a fraternity dedicated to preaching retreats and reviving the Church in the wake of the spiritual ravages of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era. Father Lanteri entrusted the group to the Virgin Mary, whom he always called their Foundress and teacher. Despite some initial setbacks, the Oblates of the Virgin Mary were approved by Pope Leo XII on September 1, 1826. Father Lanteri died four years later August 5, 1830.
The Oblates of the Virgin Mary quickly expanded throughout Italy and into France and Austria. Following the missionary spirit of the Founder, the Oblates eventually established foreign missions in Brazil and Argentina, and recently in Nigeria and the Philippines. After a surge in the number of vocations from North America in the 1970′s, the Oblates came to the United States and Canada. They established the community in Boston on September 12, 1976, and opened the doors to Our Lady of Grace Seminary two years later. The U.S. Province has foundations today in Massachusetts, Illinois, California, and Colorado. Excerpts taken from the writings of the Mission of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary
As we pray for these babies and little ones, let us always "Think of Mary and Call on Mary" to intercede for us on their behalf.
From a homily by Saint Bernard on the Blessed Virgin
Two centuries ago, Venerable Pio Bruno Lanteri (1759-1830) served the Church in the Piedmont region of Northern Italy. It was a turbulent era in secular society and there was an anti-Christian spirit of the French Revolution. Heresies obscured the truth of God’s love and undermined the authority of the Pope.
The young Lanteri met a Jesuit priest, Father Nikolaus von Diessbach. Under his guidance, Lanteri made the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius and had a profound experience of the infinite mercy of God. He became an ardent witness to God’s mercy through intense and varied apostolates as a diocesan priest in Turin. He preached the Spiritual Exercises and popular missions, offered spiritual direction and confession, circulated Catholic books, supported lay and priestly associations, and provided real care for the needy. In all this, he was always careful to guide people “to the truth in love,” showing the utmost goodness to all and trying to help everyone to seek genuine holiness. Father Lanteri always pointed to fidelity to the Church and fidelity to Mary as the certain guiding lights along the path of the Christian life.
In 1814, three zealous priests came to Father Lanteri for guidance in forming a fraternity dedicated to preaching retreats and reviving the Church in the wake of the spiritual ravages of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era. Father Lanteri entrusted the group to the Virgin Mary, whom he always called their Foundress and teacher. Despite some initial setbacks, the Oblates of the Virgin Mary were approved by Pope Leo XII on September 1, 1826. Father Lanteri died four years later August 5, 1830.
The Oblates of the Virgin Mary quickly expanded throughout Italy and into France and Austria. Following the missionary spirit of the Founder, the Oblates eventually established foreign missions in Brazil and Argentina, and recently in Nigeria and the Philippines. After a surge in the number of vocations from North America in the 1970′s, the Oblates came to the United States and Canada. They established the community in Boston on September 12, 1976, and opened the doors to Our Lady of Grace Seminary two years later. The U.S. Province has foundations today in Massachusetts, Illinois, California, and Colorado. Excerpts taken from the writings of the Mission of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary
As we pray for these babies and little ones, let us always "Think of Mary and Call on Mary" to intercede for us on their behalf.
February 17, 2011
30 Days Prayer to Saint Joseph
The Feast Day of Saint Joseph is March 19th. If you begin this 30 Days of Prayer tomorrow, this novena will end on Saint Joseph's Feast Day. This is a powerful novena. Ask Saint Joseph to intercede for your intentions.
Thirty Days Prayer to St. Joseph
In honor of the 30 years he spent with Jesus and Mary
Ever blessed and glorious Joseph, kind and loving father, and helpful friend of all in sorrow! You are the good father and protector of orphans, the defender of the defenseless, the patron of those in need and sorrow. Look kindly on my request. My sins have drawn down on me the just displeasure of my God, and so I am surrounded with unhappiness. To you, loving guardian of the Family of Nazareth, do I go for help and protection.
Listen, then, I beg you, with fatherly concern, to my earnest prayers, and obtain for me the favors I ask.
I ask it by the infinite mercy of the eternal Son of God, which moved Him to take our nature and to be born into this world of sorrow.
I ask it by the weariness and suffering you endured when you found no shelter at the inn of Bethlehem for the holy Virgin, nor a house where the Son of God could be born. Then, being everywhere refused, you had to allow the Queen of Heaven to give birth to the world's Redeemer in a cave.
I ask it by the loveliness and power of that sacred Name, Jesus, which you conferred on the adorable Infant.
I ask it by that painful torture you felt at the prophecy of holy Simeon, which declared the Child Jesus and His holy Mother future victims of our sins and of their great love for us.
I ask it through your sorrow and pain of soul when the angel declared to you that the life of the Child Jesus was sought by His enemies. From their evil plan you had to flee with Him and His Blessed Mother to Egypt. I ask it by all the suffering, weariness, and labors of that long and dangerous journey.
I ask it by all your care to protect the Sacred Child and His Immaculate Mother during your second journey, when you were ordered to return to your own country. I ask it by your peaceful life in Nazareth where you met with so many joys and sorrows.
I ask it by your great distress when the adorable Child was lost to you and His Mother for three days. I ask it by your joy at finding Him in the Temple, and by the comfort you found at Nazareth, while living in the company of the Child Jesus. I ask it by the wonderful submission He showed in His obedience to you.
I ask it by the perfect love and conformity you showed in accepting the Divine order to depart from this life, and from the company of Jesus and Mary. I ask it by the joy which filled your soul, when the Redeemer of the world, triumphant over death and hell, entered into the possession of His kingdom and led you into it with special honors.
I ask it through Mary's glorious Assumption, and through that endless happiness you have with her in the presence of God. O good father! I beg you, by all your sufferings, sorrows, and joys, to hear me and obtain for me what I ask: (Here name your petitions or think of them.)
Obtain for all those who have asked my prayers everything that is useful to them in the plan of God. Finally, my dear patron and father, be with me and all who are dear to me in our last moments, that we may eternally sing the praises of:
JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH
"A blameless life, St. Joseph, may we lead,
by your kind patronage from danger freed."
Thirty Days Prayer to St. Joseph
In honor of the 30 years he spent with Jesus and Mary
Ever blessed and glorious Joseph, kind and loving father, and helpful friend of all in sorrow! You are the good father and protector of orphans, the defender of the defenseless, the patron of those in need and sorrow. Look kindly on my request. My sins have drawn down on me the just displeasure of my God, and so I am surrounded with unhappiness. To you, loving guardian of the Family of Nazareth, do I go for help and protection.
Listen, then, I beg you, with fatherly concern, to my earnest prayers, and obtain for me the favors I ask.
I ask it by the infinite mercy of the eternal Son of God, which moved Him to take our nature and to be born into this world of sorrow.
I ask it by the weariness and suffering you endured when you found no shelter at the inn of Bethlehem for the holy Virgin, nor a house where the Son of God could be born. Then, being everywhere refused, you had to allow the Queen of Heaven to give birth to the world's Redeemer in a cave.
I ask it by the loveliness and power of that sacred Name, Jesus, which you conferred on the adorable Infant.
I ask it by that painful torture you felt at the prophecy of holy Simeon, which declared the Child Jesus and His holy Mother future victims of our sins and of their great love for us.
I ask it through your sorrow and pain of soul when the angel declared to you that the life of the Child Jesus was sought by His enemies. From their evil plan you had to flee with Him and His Blessed Mother to Egypt. I ask it by all the suffering, weariness, and labors of that long and dangerous journey.
I ask it by all your care to protect the Sacred Child and His Immaculate Mother during your second journey, when you were ordered to return to your own country. I ask it by your peaceful life in Nazareth where you met with so many joys and sorrows.
I ask it by your great distress when the adorable Child was lost to you and His Mother for three days. I ask it by your joy at finding Him in the Temple, and by the comfort you found at Nazareth, while living in the company of the Child Jesus. I ask it by the wonderful submission He showed in His obedience to you.
I ask it by the perfect love and conformity you showed in accepting the Divine order to depart from this life, and from the company of Jesus and Mary. I ask it by the joy which filled your soul, when the Redeemer of the world, triumphant over death and hell, entered into the possession of His kingdom and led you into it with special honors.
I ask it through Mary's glorious Assumption, and through that endless happiness you have with her in the presence of God. O good father! I beg you, by all your sufferings, sorrows, and joys, to hear me and obtain for me what I ask: (Here name your petitions or think of them.)
Obtain for all those who have asked my prayers everything that is useful to them in the plan of God. Finally, my dear patron and father, be with me and all who are dear to me in our last moments, that we may eternally sing the praises of:
JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH
"A blameless life, St. Joseph, may we lead,
by your kind patronage from danger freed."
February 14, 2011
Saint Valentine and Love
Saint Valentine’s Day is a day that celebrates romantic love. A great love, a romantic love is good and it brings blessings! Romantic love, eros, has a place and a purpose in God’s plan. Romantic love, eros, has a dignity and it's purpose is to draw man and woman toward marriage, family and ultimately toward God. The deep desire that man and woman have for each other is a sign of the ultimate desire of the human heart for deep union with God.
There is an even greater love, agape love. Agape love is loving God above ourselves, above all things and above all people. There is perhaps no greater example of agape love than that of the martyrs. They were willing to forsake everything for Christ, paying the supreme price of this love, the gift of their very own life.
Saint Valentine was a martyr. Christian tradition recognizes two saints from the early Church as “Valentine.” The first was the Roman priest Valentine. He was decapitated in 268 AD for the crime of trying to convert a member of Emperor Claudius. He was also a renowned healer. The second Valentine is Bishop Valentine who was also a renowned healer and was turned in for converting people to Christianity. He was imprisoned and the attempt was made to force him to sacrifice to pagan gods. When he refused an attempt was made to club him to death. When that failed he was beheaded in 273 AD. It is interesting that both Saint Valentines were renowned healers. Jesus is Our Divine Healer and He heals with His love.
Eros is surely noble and necessary and is rightly celebrated, but no greater love, agape, exists than to lay down one’s life for one’s friend.
Song of Songs 2:10-13
My lover speaks; he says to me,"Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one, and come!" For see, the winter is past, the rains are over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of pruning the vines has come, and the song of the dove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth its figs,and the vines, in bloom, give forth fragrance. "Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one,and come!"
There is an even greater love, agape love. Agape love is loving God above ourselves, above all things and above all people. There is perhaps no greater example of agape love than that of the martyrs. They were willing to forsake everything for Christ, paying the supreme price of this love, the gift of their very own life.
Saint Valentine was a martyr. Christian tradition recognizes two saints from the early Church as “Valentine.” The first was the Roman priest Valentine. He was decapitated in 268 AD for the crime of trying to convert a member of Emperor Claudius. He was also a renowned healer. The second Valentine is Bishop Valentine who was also a renowned healer and was turned in for converting people to Christianity. He was imprisoned and the attempt was made to force him to sacrifice to pagan gods. When he refused an attempt was made to club him to death. When that failed he was beheaded in 273 AD. It is interesting that both Saint Valentines were renowned healers. Jesus is Our Divine Healer and He heals with His love.
Eros is surely noble and necessary and is rightly celebrated, but no greater love, agape, exists than to lay down one’s life for one’s friend.
Song of Songs 2:10-13
My lover speaks; he says to me,"Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one, and come!" For see, the winter is past, the rains are over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of pruning the vines has come, and the song of the dove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth its figs,and the vines, in bloom, give forth fragrance. "Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one,and come!"
February 08, 2011
Made in the Image of God
Genesis 1:26-31 Then God said: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the cattle, and over all the wild animals and all the creatures that crawl on the ground." God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them, saying: "Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that move on the earth." God also said: "See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the earth and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food; and to all the animals of the land, all the birds of the air, and all the living creatures that crawl on the ground, I give all the green plants for food." And so it happened. God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good. Evening came, and morning followed, the sixth day.
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