From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   The wind was against them   
      
      "Meanwhile the boat carrying the disciples--that is, the church--is   
   rocking and shaking amid the storms of temptation, while the adverse   
   wind rages on. That is to say, its enemy the devil strives to keep the   
   wind from calming down. But greater is he who is persistent on our   
   behalf, for amid the vicissitudes of our life he gives us confidence.   
   He comes to us and strengthens us, so we are not jostled in the boat   
   and tossed overboard. For although the boat is thrown into disorder,   
   it is still a boat. It alone carries the disciples and receives   
   Christ. It is in danger indeed on the water, but there would be   
   certain death without it. Therefore stay inside the boat and call upon   
   God. When all good advice fails and the rudder is useless and the   
   spread of the sails presents more of a danger than an advantage, when   
   all human help and strength have been abandoned, the only recourse   
   left for the sailors is to cry out to God. Therefore will he who helps   
   those who are sailing to reach port safely, abandon his church and   
   prevent it from arriving in peace and tranquility?"   
   --by Augustine of Hippo (excerpt from SERMON 75.4)   
      
      
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   July 31st - St. Ignatius of Loyola   
      
   Today's saint was baptized "Inigo". He was the youngest of eleven   
   children born to Don Beltran; Lord of Loyola and Onaz, and his wife   
   Marina Saenz de Liconay Balda. It is believed that he was born in 1491   
   in the castle of Loyola at Azpeitia, Guipuzcoa, Spain. He was trained   
   to be a soldier, but his career ended after a cannon ball severely   
   broke his leg.   
      
   Inigo's recuperation was long, tedious and painful, requiring two   
   surgeries without the aid of anesthetics. It was during this time that   
   he came to read the life of Jesus and some of the saints as they were   
   the only books available to him. After many ups and downs his life   
   turned away from his passion for glory and marriage to a high-born   
   lady, to serving God. He spent about a year with the Dominicans at   
   Manresa in a paupers house and in a hermit cave. It was a great time   
   of peace and serenity. But it wasn't to last.   
      
   Inigo began to suffer terribly from scruples and fears. He tried   
   fasting, prayer, and discipline, even the sacraments provided him with   
   no relief. At times he felt on the brink of despair and it was during   
   this time he began to jot down what would become the beginnings of his   
   Spiritual Exercises.   
      
   In 1523 he went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem and would have stayed, but   
   God intervened through the Franciscan superior of the Friary he was   
   staying at, who ordered him to return home. He returned to Spain and   
   spent several years studying in Barcelona, Alcala, Salamanca and   
   Paris. He lived an austere life and at one time was arrested as a   
   suspected heretic after giving spiritual direction to some women even   
   though he was a layman. Another time he was again arrested after   
   holding assemblies of prayer and devotions. He ran into a lot of   
   difficulty among scholars because he publicly taught how to live the   
   life of Christ, even though he didn't have the credentials they   
   demanded. Jealousy is as old as the beginning of time.   
      
   In 1534 Ignatius received his Master of Arts degree and with six other   
   like minded men joined together and vowed poverty, chastity and to   
   preach the Gospel in Palestine, or offer themselves to the Pope for   
   what ever service he might choose for them. This was the beginnings of   
   the Society of Jesus. In 1537 they were ordained to the priesthood.   
   They were unable to reach the Holy Land so went to Rome resolved to   
   become a new religious order. In 1540 they received papal approval,   
   took their final vows and in 1541, Ignatius became the first Superior   
   General.   
      
   They were sent out as a missionary order and soon had schools,   
   colleges and seminaries all over Europe. They gained the reputation   
   for being excellent teachers and ardent fighters against heresies.   
   Ignatius died July 31, 1556 at about the age of 55. At the time of his   
   death there were 1,000 members of his order in nine countries. He was   
   canonized in 1622 and Pope Pius XI declared him heavenly patron of   
   spiritual exercises and retreats.   
      
   There are volumes and volumes written about St. Ignatius: his history,   
   the history of the Jesuit Order, his Spiritual exercises, commentaries   
   on these exercises, etc. etc. Perhaps one can just say, when he opened   
   his mind and heart to God, he heard the message of Salvation and he   
   followed Christ with all the strength of his being.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   It is in vain that we cut off the branches of evil, if we leave intact   
   the root, which continually produces new ones.   
   --St. Gregory the Great   
      
   Bible Quote   
    Paul warned those who judge hypocritically that they will be judged   
   more severely:   
      
    "So no matter who you are, if you pass judgment you have no excuse.   
   It is yourself that you condemn when you judge others, since you   
   behave in the same way as those you are condemning. We are well aware   
   that people who behave like that are justly condemned by God. But   
   you--when you judge those who behave like this while you are doing the   
   same yourself--do you think you will escape God's condemnation?"   
   [Romans 2:1-3].   
      
      
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   Three prayers in times of weakness, trial, tribulation:   
      
   O Heart of Love,   
   I place all my trust in Thee,   
   for I fear all things from my own weakness,   
   but I hope for all things   
   from Thy goodness.   
   --St. Margaret Mary:   
      
   I live through the mercy of Jesus, to whom I owe everything and from   
   whom I expect everything.   
   --Pope John XXIII:   
      
   Yet, O Lord, though I have no feeling of confidence in Thee,   
   nevertheless, I know that Thou art my God, that I am Thine, and   
   that I have no hope but in Thy goodness; so, I abandon myself   
   entirely into Thy hands.   
   --St. Francis de Sales:   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)