From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   We should be simple, humble, and pure   
      
    Jesus placed his own will at the disposal of his Father's will. And   
   the Father's will was that his blessed and glorious son, whom he gave   
   to us and who was born for us, should offer himself through his own   
   blood as a sacrifice and victim on the altar of the cross, not for   
   himself, through whom all things were made, but for our sins, leaving   
   us an example, that we should follow in his steps. And he desires that   
   we should all be saved through him and receive him with a pure heart   
   and a chaste body. How happy and blessed are they who love the Lord   
   and do as the Lord himself commands in the gospel: You shall love the   
   Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and your   
   neighbor as yourself. So let us love God and adore him with a pure   
   heart and a pure mind, for he himself seeks this above all things, as   
   he says: The true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in   
   truth. All who adore him should adore him in the spirit of truth. And   
   let us pour forth our praise and prayer to him day and night, saying   
   Our Father, who art in heaven; for we ought always to pray and not   
   lose heart.   
   --St. Francis of Assisi   
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   August 18th – St. Alberto Hurtado-Cruchaga, Priest, SJ   
      
   Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga was born on 22 January 1901 in Viña del Mar,   
   Chile. With his father’s death in 1905, when Alberto was only 4, the   
   family found itself in financial difficulties, forcing his mother to   
   start selling off land owned by the family. Thanks to a scholarship,   
   Alberto was able to study from 1909-17 at the highly respected Jesuit   
   school of St. Ignacio in Santiago. From 1918 to 1923, he attended the   
   Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile as a law student and doing   
   his thesis on labour law.   
      
   However, rather than becoming a lawyer, Alberto entered the Jesuit   
   novitiate in 1923. He was sent to Barcelona in Spain for his   
   philosophy and theology studies. In 1932 he was banished together with   
   Spanish classmates, and completed his theology studies in Leuven   
   (Louvain), Belgium from 1932 to 1934. He was ordained priest there on   
   24 August 1933. While pursuing his theological studies, he also worked   
   on a doctorate in Psychology and Pedagogy at the Catholic University   
   of Leuven.   
      
   From the early days of his studies in labour law and even before   
   becoming a Jesuit, Hurtado was keen on tackling social issues and   
   problems. Before returning to Chile, he visited social and educational   
   centres in Germany, France, Belgium and The Netherlands.   
      
   After returning to Chile in 1936, Alberto turned to serving the poor   
   of Chile, concentrating on disadvantaged children, teenagers and young   
   adults. He was a teacher of religion and formed future teachers in the   
   Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. He was also active in   
   spiritual direction and gave retreats according to the Spiritual   
   Exercises, helping people in the process to discover their vocation in   
   the service of Christ.   
      
   In 1940 he was appointed diocesan director of the Catholic Action   
   youth movement and in the following year became its National Director   
   (1941-44). In 1941 also, he produced a book “Is Chile a Catholic   
   country”?. Laying open a number of unpleasant realities, the book was   
   heavily criticised by more conservative Catholics, who even accused   
   Hurtado of being a Communist.   
      
   Mindful of his own origins and the help his family received in times   
   of difficulty led Hurtado to become very active in social issues. He   
   set up an organisation called Hogar de Cristo (Christ’s Home). His   
   shelters took in children in need of food and shelter, whether they   
   were abandoned or not. He bought an old green van and checked out the   
   streets at night on the lookout for young people who could be helped.   
   His special charisma drew many helpers and benefactors and the   
   movement was highly successful. In time, the shelters multiplied all   
   over the country. It is estimated that between 1945 and 1951 more than   
   850,000 children received help from the movement.   
      
   In 1947, Hurtado entered the labour movement to give support to   
   Chilean workers. Inspired by the social teaching of the Catholic   
   Church, he set up the Chilean Trade Union Association, whose aim was   
   to train union leaders in Christian values. To this end, he wrote the   
   three books: “Social Humanism” (1947), “The Christian Social Order”   
   (1947) and “Trade Unions” (1950). To spread the social teaching of the   
   Church and help Christians reflect and act on the serious social   
   problems faced by the country in 1951 he founded a periodical called   
   Mensaje (Message). He himself published numerous articles and books on   
   labour issues seen from the side of the Catholic faith. His attractive   
   personality and consistently optimistic and joyful attitudes attracted   
   people of all kinds--young and old, intellectuals and workers alike.   
      
   In 1952, after being rushed to hospital in great pain, he was   
   diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. His last days were monitored by the   
   national press and, even before his death, he had become a national   
   hero. True to his nature, he gracefully accepted the inevitable. He   
   died in Santiago on 18 August 1952 just 51 years old.   
      
   Alberto Hurtado was beatified on 16 October 1994 by Pope John Paul II   
   and canonised by Pope Benedict XVI on 23 October 23, 2005. He was one   
   of the first to be elevated to sainthood during the papacy of Pope   
   Benedict XVI and is the second Chilean saint, after Saint Teresa of   
   the Andes.   
      
   An indication of his enduring popularity was the presence on the   
   Piazza San Pietro, on the day of his canonisation, of a very large   
   contingent of Chileans, led by President Ricardo Lagos and a number of   
   high ranking Chilean politicians who had been Alberto Hurtado’s   
   students.   
      
   The Hogar de Cristo he founded still exists and, through its fight for   
   social justice, it has become one of the biggest charity groups in   
   Chile.   
      
   Alberto Hurtado is remembered as deeply spiritual and untiring in his   
   work for workers and the young, combining intellectual reflection and   
   practical action.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   All that the beginner in prayer has to do--and you must not forget   
   this, for it is very important--is to labour and be resolute and   
   prepare himself with all possible diligence to bring his will into   
   conformity with the will of God. As I shall say later, you may be   
   quite sure that this comprises the very greatest perfection which can   
   be attained on the spiritual road.   
   --St. Teresa of Jesus   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)