From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Why did Jesus speak to people in parables?   
      
    Why did Jesus speak to people in parables? Like the rabbis of his   
   time, Jesus used simple word-pictures, called parables, to help people   
   understand who God is and what his kingdom or reign is like. Jesus   
   used images and characters taken from everyday life to create a   
   miniature play or drama to illustrate his message. This was Jesus'   
   most common way of teaching. His stories appealed to the young and   
   old, poor and rich, and to the learned and unlearned as well. Over a   
   third of the Gospels by Matthew, Mark, and Luke contain parables told   
   by Jesus.   
   --Cyril of Alexandria (150-215 AD ), an early church teacher,   
   described the purpose of Jesus' parables:   
      
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   4 June – Saint Francis Caracciolo CRM   
      
    Priest, co-Founder of the Congregation of the Clerics Regular Minor   
   with Venerable John Augustine (1551-1587) the “Adorno Fathers,”   
   Confessor, Apostle of the Eucharistic Adoration – born as Ascanio   
   Pisquizio on 13 October 1563 at his family’s castle at Villa Santa   
   Maria, Abruzzi, Italy and died on 4 June 1608 at Agnone, Italy of a   
   fever, aged 44. Patronages – Association of Italian Cooks (chosen in   
   1996), Naples, Italy (chosen in 1838).   
      
   Francis Caracciolo was born of a noble family on 13 October 1563 in   
   Villa Santa Maria (Abruzzo Region). His parents, Ferrante Caracciolo   
   and Isabella Baratucci Baptised him as Ascanio. He received an   
   excellent educational formation and Catholic education and these   
   showed from his virtues, evident from his early childhood.   
      
   When he was 22 years old, he was inflicted by a terrible disease which   
   almost led him to death. In this trial he heard the Lord’s call and   
   was ready to dedicate his life completely in the service of God and   
   neighbour, if he would recover.   
      
   After his miraculous cure, Ascanio, faithful to his promise, renounced   
   all his properties and noble titles. He left his home and went to   
   Naples to prepare himself for the Priesthood.  He was Ordained a   
   Priest and joined the Confraternity of the White Servants of Justice   
   (I Bianchi), a confraternity that looked after the spiritual welfare   
   of prisoners and those condemned to death. It was located close to the   
   Hospital of Incurables.   
      
   His real work was revealed to him, however, in 1587, when he   
   mistakenly received a letter addressed to a relative of the same name,   
   Father Fabrizio Caracciolo, the Abbot of St Mary Major in Naples. He   
   learned from it that the writer, Father Augustine Adorno of Genoa, was   
   planning to found a religious Order of Priests whose work would   
   combine both active and contemplative life. The project appealed to   
   Ascanio and he soon joined forces with Augustine Adorno and Fabrizio   
   Caracciolo.   
      
   It was the period after the Council of Trent and Ascanio felt strongly   
   the ideals of the Catholic Reform and saw this opportunity, as a   
   providential sign from God. He immediately made himself available to   
   the initiatives of Augustine and Fabrizio.   
      
   The three fathers retreated to the Camaldolese hermitage in Naples to   
   write the first Constitutions of the Order. In addition to the three   
   evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience, they   
   contemplated a fourth vow – the renunciation of any ecclesiastical   
   dignity. A particular dedication to the divine worship centred on the   
   Eucharistic Devotions nourished by the Circular Prayer and an austere   
   life expressed in the Circular Penitence were indicated as the main   
   qualities of the spirituality of the new religious Order.   
      
   Francis was convinced of the necessity of expansion of the Order in   
   Spain. He left for another time with Father Giuseppe Imparato and   
   Brother Lorenzo D’ponte on 10 April 1594. He did his works of   
   apostolate at the Hospital of the Italians in Madrid. The hard work   
   and faith which Francis dedicated to the mission bore its first fruits   
   on 25 July 1595, when he obtained the permission to open a religious   
   house dedicated to St Joseph in Madrid. His success through his   
   zealous priestly works provoked hostility of some people against the   
   Order. Francis, solid in his faith, overcame all the difficult moments   
   and left Spain for Italy in June 1596.   
      
   The first religious house in Rome was founded at the Church of St   
   Leonard. He sent the first group of clerics to reside in this house.   
      
   In November 1596, Francis returned to Naples, where, after lots of   
   hesitation, accepted to share the charge as Superior General for   
   another year. This was the 23 May 1597.   
      
   After he obtained for the Order the Church of St Agnes in Piazza   
   Navona and after his resignation as Superior General, Francis left for   
   his third journey to Spain (September 1598). During his stay, he   
   opened the religious houses in Valladolid and Alcala de Hanares.  When   
   returned to Rome, he was elected Vicar General for Italy and Superior   
   of St Mary Major in Naples. In his humility, he asked the Pope Paul V   
   to be spared from this position but in vain. The Order obtained from   
   the same Pontiff the Roman Basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina.   
      
   Francis’ health became weaker because of his austere life. Despite all   
   limitations, he did not hesitate from undertaking his last journey   
   with his brother, Father Antonio of the Theatine Fathers, which led   
   them to Loreto, Villa Santa Maria and Agnone (Molise Region) to   
   accommodate the request of opening a new religious house there.   
      
   Plague in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Loreto at the Loreto Shrine   
   showing the names of all the saints, through the centuries, who have   
   visited there. Upon his arrival to Agnone, Francis was physically   
   tired and fell ill.  On 4 June 1608, he died uttering the words:   
   “Let’s go, let’s go to heaven.”   
      
   His body was given enough preparation for a long journey to Naples.   
   Truly, God has left His own sign on him. When the body was lanced, the   
   blood spouted a red and scented fluid and his vital organs were   
   uncorrupted. Around his heart were printed the words of the Psalm:   
   “The zeal of your house consumes me” (Ps 69:10).   
      
   St Francis Caracciolo was Beatified by Pope Clement XIV on 4 June 1769   
   and Canonised by Pope Pius VII on 24 May 1807. In 1838 he was chosen   
   as a Patron Saint of Naples, where his body lies. At first, he was   
   buried in Basilica of St Mary Major but his remains were afterwards   
   translated to the church of Santa Maria di Monteverginella, which was   
   given in exchange to the Clerics Regular Minor (1823) after their   
   suppression at the time of the French Revolution.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)