From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   On Self-Denial, and Renunciation of all Cupidity [I]   
      
   CHRIST.   
   My son, complete self-denial is the only road to perfect liberty.   
   Those who are obsessed by self-interest and self-love are slaves of   
   their own desires;(2 Tim.3:2) they are greedy, inquisitive, and   
   discontented. They spend themselves in pleasures, but never in the   
   service of Jesus Christ, their whole interest being in passing   
   affairs. But all that is not of God shall perish utterly. Observe this   
   simple counsel of perfection: Forsake all and you shall find all.   
   Renounce desire and you shall find peace. Give this due thought and   
   when you have put it into practice, you will understand all things.   
   --Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Bk 3, Ch 32   
      
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   July 31st - Joseph of Arimathaea   
      
   The Gospels tell us (M 27:57-61; P 15:42-47; L 23:50-56; J 19:38-42)   
   that after the death of Jesus, Joseph of Arimathaea, wealthy, a member   
   of the Council, asked Pilate for the body of Jesus, and buried it with   
   honor in the tomb he had intended for himself. This is our only   
   information about him from writers of his own century.   
      
   Later tradition has embellished this account. (If not interested in   
   folklore, skip to the closing prayer.) It is said that Joseph was a   
   distant relative of the family of Jesus; that he derived his wealth   
   from tin mines in Cornwall, which he visited from time to time; and   
   that Jesus as a teen-ager accompanied Joseph on one such visit. This   
   is the background of the poem "Jerusalem," by William Blake, which   
   begins:   
      
       And did those feet in ancient time   
         Walk upon England's mountains green?   
       And was the holy Lamb of God   
         On England's pleasant pastures seen?   
       And did the countenance divine   
         Shine forth upon our clouded hills?   
       And was Jerusalem builded here   
         Among those dark satanic mills?   
      
       Bring me my bow of burning gold!   
         Bring me my arrows of desire!   
       Bring me my spear! O clouds, unfold!   
         Bring me my chariot of fire!   
       I will not cease from mental fight,   
         Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand,   
       Till we have built Jerusalem   
         In England's green and pleasant land.   
   — William Blake (1757-1827)   
      
   After the Crucifixion, we are told, Joseph returned to Cornwall,   
   bringing the chalice of the Last Supper, known as the Holy Grail.   
   Reaching Glastonbury, he planted his staff, which took root and   
   blossomed into a thorn tree. The Grail was hidden, and part of the   
   great national epic ("the matter of Britain") deals with the   
   unsuccessful quest of the knights of King Arthur to find the Grail.   
   The Thorn Tree remained at Glastonbury, flowering every year on   
   Christmas day, and King Charles I baited the Roman Catholic chaplain   
   of his queen by pointing out that, although Pope Gregory had   
   proclaimed a reform of the calendar, the Glastonbury Thorn ignored the   
   Pope's decree and continued to blossom on Christmas Day according to   
   the Old Calendar. The Thorn was cut down by one of Cromwell's soldiers   
   on the grounds that it was a relic of superstition, and it is said   
   that as it fell, its thorns blinded the axeman in one eye. A tree   
   allegedly grown from a cutting from the original Thorn survives today   
   in Glastonbury (and trees propagated from it stand on the grounds of   
   the Cathedral in Washington, DC, and presumably elsewhere) and leaves   
   from it are sold in all the tourist shops in Glastonbury.   
   Has the Glastonbury legend any basis at all in history? Two facts and   
   some speculations follow:   
      
   Tin, an essential ingredient of bronze, was highly valued in ancient   
   times, and Phoenician ships imported tin from Cornwall. It is a pretty   
   safe guess that in the first century the investors who owned shares in   
   the Cornwall tin trade included at least a few Jewish Christians.   
      
   Christianity gained a foothold in Britain very early, probably earlier   
   than in Gaul. It may have been brought there by the traffic of the   
   Cornwall tin trade. If so, then the early British Christians would   
   have a tradition that they had been evangelized by a wealthy Jewish   
   Christian. If they had forgotten his name, it would be natural to   
   consult the Scriptures to see what mention was made of early wealthy   
   Jewish converts. Joseph and Barnabas are almost the only ones named,   
   and much of the life of Barnabas is already accounted for by the book   
   of Acts, which makes him an unsatisfactory candidate. Hence, those who   
   do not like to be vague would say, not, "We were evangelised by some   
   wealthy Jewish Christian whose name we have forgotten," but, "We were   
   evangelised by Joseph of Arimathaea."   
      
   Why spend time on any of the above? Because the folk-tales of a   
   community are part of the heritage of a community. Someone wishing to   
   understand the United States will be well advised to familiarize   
   himself with the stories of George Washington's cherry tree and Paul   
   Revere's ride, although he ought not to confuse them with history.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Some Saints are privileged to extend to us their patronage with   
   particular efficacy in certain needs, but not in others; but our holy   
   patron St. Joseph has the power to assist us in all cases, in every   
   necessity, in every undertaking.   
   --St. Thomas Aquinas   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we   
   have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the   
   heavens."  (2 Corinthians 5:1)  DRB   
      
   <><><><>   
   Prayer   
      
   Merciful God, whose servant Joseph of Arimathaea with reverence and   
   godly fear did prepare the body of our Lord and Savior for burial, and   
   did lay it in his own tomb: Grant, we beseech thee, to us thy faithful   
   people grace and courage to love and serve Jesus with sincere devotion   
   all the days of our life; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who   
   liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever   
   and ever.    
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)