From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Gossipers Stir Up Disharmony   
      
   "Gossipers are described in a certain passage of the Scriptures this   
   way: "The heart of the fool is as the wheel of the cart." It carries   
   hay, and creaks, and keeps on creaking without end. Thus there are   
   many brothers and sisters who do not dwell together except physically.   
   What type of people do dwell together? People about whom it can be   
   said: "They have one mind and one heart in the service of God."   
   --St. Augustine--Commentary on Psalm 132, 8   
      
   Prayer: Remember me, O Lord, not according to your wrath, which I have   
   deserved, but according to your mercy. This befits you, O Lord, not   
   owing to my merit but to your kindness.   
   --St. Augustine--Commentary on Psalm 24, 7   
      
      
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   April 25th - Saint Mark, Evangelist   
      
   (d. 63)   
      
   Saint Mark was converted to the Faith by the Prince of the Apostles,   
   whom he later accompanied to Rome, acting there as his secretary or   
   interpreter. When Saint Peter wrote his First Epistle to the churches   
   of Asia, he affectionately joined to his own salutation that of his   
   faithful companion, whom he calls “my son Mark.” The Roman people   
   entreated Saint Mark to put in writing for them the substance of Saint   
   Peter’s frequent discourses on Our Lord’s life. This the Evangelist   
   did under the eye and with the express sanction of the Apostle, and   
   every page of his brief but graphic Gospel so bore the impress of   
   Saint Peter’s character, that the Fathers used to name it “Peter’s   
   Gospel.”   
      
   Saint Mark was then sent to Egypt to found the Church of Alexandria.   
   There his disciples became the wonder of the world for their piety and   
   asceticism; Saint Jerome speaks of Saint Mark as the father of the   
   anchorites who at a later time thronged the Egyptian deserts. There,   
   too, he set up the first Christian school, the fruitful mother of many   
   illustrious doctors and bishops.   
      
   After governing his see for many years, Saint Mark was seized one day   
   by the heathen, dragged by ropes over stones, and thrown into prison.   
   On the morrow the torture was repeated, and after receiving the   
   consolation of the sight of Angels and the voice of Jesus, Saint Mark   
   went to his reward.   
      
   It is to Saint Mark that we owe the many pictorial touches which often   
   give such vivid color to the Gospel scenes, and help us to visualize   
   the very gestures and appearance of our Blessed Lord. It is he alone   
   who notes that in the temptation Jesus was “with the beasts;” that He   
   slept in the boat “on a pillow”; that He “embraced the little   
   children”. He alone preserves for us the command, “Peace, be still!”   
   by which the storm was quelled, and even the very Aramaic words He   
   spoke, the “Ephpheta” and the “Talitha, cumi!” by which the dumb were   
   made to speak and the dead to rise.   
      
   Reflection. Learn from Saint Mark’s Gospel to keep the image of the   
   Son of man ever before your mind, and to ponder every syllable which   
   fell from His lips.   
      
   Source: Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a compilation based on   
   Butler’s Lives of the Saints and other sources   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   In suffering love and in loving, suffer!   
   --Blessed Maria Lopez of Jesus   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   This kind of demon can be cast out only by prayer and fasting. (Matt.17:20)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Domine Iesu, Noverim Me   
      
   Lord Jesus, let me know myself and know Thee,   
   And desire nothing save only Thee.   
   Let me hate myself and love Thee.   
   Let me do everything for the sake of Thee.   
   Let me humble myself and exalt Thee.   
   Let me think nothing except Thee.   
   Let me die to myself and live in Thee.   
   Let me accept whatever happens as from Thee.   
   Let me banish self and follow Thee,   
   and ever desire to follow Thee.   
   Let me fly from myself and take refuge in Thee,   
   that I may deserve to be defended by Thee.   
   Let me fear for myself, let me fear Thee,   
   and let me be among those who are chosen by Thee.   
   Let me distrust myself and put my trust in Thee.   
   Let me be willing to obey for the sake of Thee.   
   Let me cling to nothing save only to Thee,   
   and let me be poor because of Thee.   
   Look upon me, that I may love Thee.   
   Call me that I may see Thee,   
   And forever enjoy Thee. - Amen.   
   --Saint Augustine    
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)