From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Thoughts on the Misery of Man   
      
      We have cause, therefore, because of our frailty and feebleness, to   
   humble ourselves and never think anything great of ourselves.  Through   
   neglect we may quickly lose that which by God’s grace we have acquired   
   only through long, hard labor. What, eventually, will become of us who   
   so quickly grow lukewarm?   
      Woe to us if we presume to rest in peace and security when actually   
   there is no true holiness in our lives. It would be beneficial for us,   
   like good novices, to be instructed once more in the principles of a   
   good life, to see if there be hope of amendment and greater spiritual   
   progress in the future.   
   -- Kempis--Imitation of Christ, Ch. 22   
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   March 17th - Joseph of Arimathea (RM)   
      
   1st century. We read about Joseph of Arimathea, the "noble counselor,"   
   in all four Gospels (Matthew 27:57-61; Mark 15:43-46; Luke 23:50-56;   
   and John 19:38-42). As with many of the Biblical figures, numerous   
   legends accrued around his name in later years.   
      
   0ur Saint Joseph was a wealthy member of the temple council and a   
   secret follower of Jesus because he was afraid of persecution from   
   Jewish officials. He attended the Crucifixion, and legend has it that   
   he caught Jesus’ blood as he hung upon the cross. (What is said to be   
   the Sacro Catino in which Joseph caught the blood of Christ at the   
   Crucifixion is at San Lorenzo, Genoa, Italy.) Joseph persuaded Pontius   
   Pilate to let him have Jesus’ body, wrapped it in linen and herbs, and   
   laid it in a tomb carved in a rock in the side of a hill, a tomb that   
   he had prepared for himself.   
      
   Later tradition has embellished this account to add that Joseph was a   
   distant relative of Jesus, who derived his wealth from tin mines in   
   Cornwall, which he visited from time to time. One version tells the   
   story of the teenaged Jesus accompanying Joseph on one such visit.   
   This is the background of the poem "Jerusalem," by William Blake   
   (1757-1827):   
      
   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.   
      
   This version continues to say that, after the Crucifixion, Saint   
   Joseph returned to Cornwall, bringing with him the chalice of the Last   
   Supper, known as the Holy Grail. The Holy Grail was hidden and played   
   an important part in the folk history of England in the great national   
   epic about King Arthur and his knights who unsuccessful seek to find   
   it.   
      
   Upon reaching Glastonbury, he planted his staff, which took root and   
   blossomed into a thorn tree. This is the Holy Thorn, which blossoms at   
   Christmas. King Charles I baited his wife's Roman Catholic chaplain by   
   observing 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.   
   One of Cromwell's soldiers cut down the Thorn because it was a relic   
   of superstition. We are told that he was blinded by one of the thorns   
   as it fell. A tree allegedly grown from a cutting of 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.   
      
   It was not until about the middle of the 13th century that the legend   
   appears saying Joseph accompanied Saint Philip to Gaul to preach and   
   was sent by him to England as the leader of 12 missionaries. It is   
   said that the company, inspired by Gabriel the archangel, built a   
   church made of wattles in honor of the Virgin Mary on an island called   
   Yniswitrin, given to them by the king of England. The church   
   eventually evolved into Glastonbury Abbey in Somerset. Supposedly   
   Joseph died there, was buried on the island, and miraculous cures   
   worked at his grave. This burial site is unlikely though.   
      
   Is there any merit to the legends of Saint Joseph? Perhaps. Tin, an   
   essential ingredient of bronze, was highly valued in ancient times,   
   and Phoenician ships imported tin from Cornwall. It is not   
   unreasonable to believe that some first-century, Jewish Christians   
   might have been investors in the Cornwall tin trade. Christianity   
   gained a foothold in Britain very early, perhaps, in part, because of   
   the commerce in tin. If so, then the early British Christians would   
   have a tradition that they had been evangelized by a wealthy Jewish   
   Christian. Having forgotten his name, they might have consulted the   
   Scriptures and found that Joseph and Saint Barnabas fit the   
   description. Because much of the life of Barnabas was already   
   described by the Acts of the Apostles making him an unlikely   
   candidate, only Joseph was left. Thus, Christians seeking an immediate   
   connection with their Lord, grasped on to Joseph as their evangelizer   
   (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Robinson,   
   White).   
      
      
   Bible Quote:   
    After this Joseph of Arimathe′a, who was a disciple of Jesus, but   
   secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away   
   the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him leave. So he came and took away   
   his body. 39 Nicode′mus also, who had at first come to him by night,   
   came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds’   
   weight. 40 They took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths   
   with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41 Now in the   
   place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a   
   new tomb where no one had ever been laid. 42 So because of the Jewish   
   day of Preparation, as the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus   
   there.  (John 19: 38-42)  RSVCE   
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Let us become like Christ, since Christ became like us. He assumed the   
   worse that He might give us the better; He became poor that we through   
   His poverty might be rich.   
   --Saint Gregory Nazianzen   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Saint Alphonsus Liguori, from The Redeeming Love of Christ   
   God says to each of us: "Give me your heart, that is, your will." We,   
   in turn, cannot offer anything more precious than to say: "Lord, take   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)