From Bishop Tom CONSIDERATIONS FOR FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 26, 2014 Thought for the Day: “Today is the first day of the rest of your life.” We have all heard that saying, but I wonder if we have taken time to consider the scope of its meaning. In those words are revealed the truth of faith that states that we will not die but live forever in joy or sorrow, in heaven or hell. What we know is that this may be our last day for life in this body. The end to our body is sure, but the time for that to happen is not provided for us to know. What we do know from Our Blessed Lord is that if we strive to follow the way God has laid out for our life, we will be assured that we will join Him in heaven after we depart from our body. Therein lies the challenge. Each day we are presented with temptations to do what is not good. Each day we must make choices about how to behave. Each day we become weary of failures and lack of ability to live in peace. But it is our trust in God that makes all of this tolerable. For time passes away, but God’s love does not. Readings from Scripture for Friday: Ecclesiastes 3: 1-11 Luke 9: 18-22 From Ecclesiastes taken for our consideration today, we hear some of the most famous verses ever written. “There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heaven. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot the plant. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them. A time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away. A time to rend and a time to sew; a time to be silent, and a time to speak. A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.” It seems that this list of “times” covers all human situations in one way or the other. But one thing is missing. Our love for God and neighbor must be timeless. It must span every day and be present in every situation. So when we hear the song “In Every Season,” we need to add the line, “And God is present with us thorough all time and in all places.” Then we will truly have a perspective to keep us focused no matter what happens in our lives. Saints We Recall on September 26: Throughout the Church two disciples of Christ are remembered on this day of their death in 287. They are the brothers, both physicians from Arabia, Saints Cosmas and Damien. They used their skills to help the sick without accepting money for so doing because of their love for Christ. They cured many people. They made their faith openly known despite the penalties for doing so. They were arrested, tortured, and beheaded at Cyrrhus north of Antioch in Syria. Almost immediately the two were given honors among the faith communities in the East and the West. They are remembered in the First Eucharistic Prayer of the Roman Rite. The Celtic Rite likewise remembers them and uses them as patrons of physicians along with Saint Luke the Evangelist. (red) The Celtic Rite remembers today Saint Colman Elo. He was a nephew of Saint Columba and was the abbot founder of monasteries at Muckamore in County Antrim, Ireland and Lynally in County Offaly. He was the author of thed Alphabet Devotion that was a very popular memorized way used by people to offer prayers. He died on this day in 610. (white) A holy servant of the Lord seldom remembered on liturgical calendars is Saint Teresa Conderc. Teresa was born in 1805 at Sablieres in Ardeche, France. At the age of twenty, she joined a new teaching congregation of women stationed at Apt. After novitiate, she was sent to open a hostel for women pilgrims at La Louvese near Valence. Thus was founded the Society of Our Lady of the Cenacle. That order became a separate congregation in 1836. Her intention was to attract pilgrims to the tomb of Saint John Francis Regis and to help them spend time in spiritual recollection and discernment. More retreat houses were established throughout Europe and in the United States and Canada. Due to poor health, she resigned as superior in 1835 but lived for another fifty years under other superiors. The lack of administrative skills of those women almost destroyed the order. She died on this day in1885 and was canonized in 1970. (white) After his wife and family died, the Greek man living in Calabria, Italy who is Saint Nilus the Younger lived as a hermit. Muslims raiders drove him into the relative safety of a Byzantine monastery of Saint Adrian near his home village. There he was elected to serve as abbot. But more Muslim raids forced the monks and many other refugees to flee to Gaeta. Just before he died in 1004, he chose a site for ne monastery near Frascati. That monastery survives as a Roman Rite abbey using the rule of Saint Basil. On This Day: 1580 – After a voyage of thirty three months, Sir Francis Drake and the fifty sailors that comprised the crew of the ship Golden Hind returned to Plymouth, England. They were the first Englishmen to circumnavigate the world. 1772 – For the fist time in the Americas, doctors in New Jersey were required to have a license. 1789 – All in one day Thomas Jefferson was appointed to serve as the first U.S. Secretary of State, John Jay the first chief justice of the Supreme Court, Samueal Osgood the first postmaster general, and Edmund Jennigs Randolph the first attorney general. 1913 – A tugboat made the first voyage through the Panama Canal. 1914 – The Federal Trade Commission was established. 1957 – Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story opened in New York City. 1960 – The first televised debate between presidential candidates Richard Nixon and John Kennedy took place in Chicago. 1964 – “Hey little buddy!” Gulligan’s Island premiered on CBS. It is still shown on cable channels and some broadcast TV stations every day. 1969 – The family comedy series The Brady Bunch premiered on ABC-TV. Final Word: “Error lives but a day. Truth is eternal.” So said James Longstreet. I would hasten to add, “God is Truth.” Have a peaceful day. + Bishop Tom McKenna crosf
Posted on: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 19:25:10 +0000
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