From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   On Asking God's Help and the Certainty of his Grace:  [III]   
      
   CHRIST.   
   Do not imagine yourself utterly forsaken if for a while I have allowed   
   some trial to harass you, or withdrawn the comfort that you desire;   
   for this is the way to the Kingdom of Heaven. Be assured that it is   
   better for you, and for all My servants, to struggle against   
   difficulties than to have everything as you wish. I know your secret   
   thoughts, and it is necessary for your salvation that you should   
   sometimes be deprived of spiritual joys, lest you become conceited in   
   your happy state, and complacently imagine yourself better than you   
   are. What I have granted, I can take away, and restore it when I   
   choose.   
   --Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ, Bk 3, Ch 30   
      
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   November 30th - St. Andrew, apostle   
   (First Century)   
      
   The New Testament gives us the names of the twelve apostles, but tells   
   us little about their lives. Peter, James and John were closest to   
   Jesus, so they are given fuller mention. Next in prominence, and named   
   fourth on the apostles’ list, is Andrew. He was notable for first   
   introducing the other apostles to our Lord.   
      
   Andrew (the name means “manly” in Greek) was a fisherman born in   
   Galilee at Bethsaida but working out of Capharnaum, where he lived   
   with his brother Simon, also a fisherman. Their father’s name was John   
   (Jonah). The family were devout Jews.   
      
   When Jesus’ cousin John the Baptist began to preach repentance in the   
   Jordan Valley, Andrew and John, the future apostles, hastened down to   
   hear him. They were among the listening crowds on that memorable day   
   when Jesus made His first public appearance. “Look,” said the   
   Baptizer, pointing to Christ, “This is the Lamb of God.” Piqued with   
   curiosity, Andrew and John followed Jesus after His baptism. “What are   
   you looking for?” he asked the pair. “Rabbi,” they replied, “where do   
   you stay?” “Come and see,” Jesus answered. They went with Him and   
   spent the rest of the afternoon in His company. They were enthralled   
   by what He said.   
      
   Andrew at once went home and told his brother Simon, “We have found   
   the Messiah!” So Simon returned with Andrew. As soon as Jesus saw   
   Andrew’s brother, He said, “You are Simon, son of Jonah; your name   
   shall be Cephas (which is rendered `Peter’)” (John 1:42). Thus it was   
   St. Andrew who introduced to Christ Simon Peter, the rock on which He   
   would build His Church.   
      
   Details are lacking about St. Andrew’s apostolate after the   
   Resurrection. He seems to have worked mostly in Asia Minor and Greece.   
   It is fairly well agreed that he was crucified as a martyr at Patras,   
   the seaport of Athens on the Adriatic coast. A later tradition states   
   that his cross was shaped like an “X” rather than a “T”. This   
   “decussate” form of scaffold has since then been called the “St.   
   Andrew’s Cross.”   
      
   The apostle’s relics were enshrined in Constantinople until 1204, when   
   some crusaders from the West piously stole them and re-enshrined them   
   at Amalfi, Italy. The explanation of how this apostle became patron of   
   Scotland is legendary. Nonetheless, the premier diocese of Scotland is   
   still called “St. Andrew’s and Edinburgh”, and the royal princes of   
   England are always given “Andrew” as one of their baptismal names.   
      
   Nevertheless, St. Andrew remains popular, especially among those who   
   follow the Byzantine Rite. The Greeks accept the less-warranted   
   assertion that St. Andrew established the diocese of Constantinople.   
   Russia, likewise, venerates him as its patron saint.   
      
   Greek-Rite Christians call St. Andrew “The Protoclete,” i.e., the   
   “First-Called.” It is an appropriate title for the first of the twelve   
   men invited by Jesus to “come and see.”   
      
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   The memory of insults is the residue of anger. It keeps sins alive,   
   hates justice, ruins virtue, poisons the heart, rots the mind, defeats   
   concentration, paralyzes prayer, puts love at a distance, and is a   
   nail driven into the soul. If anyone has appeased his anger, he has   
   already suppressed the memory of insults, while as long as the mother   
   is alive the son persists. In order to appease the anger, love is   
   necessary.   
   --St. John Climacus   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   "Then the angel showed me the river of life, rising from the throne of   
   God and of the Lamb and flowing crystal clear. Down the middle of the   
   city street, on either bank of the river was the tree of life, which   
   bears twelve crops of fruit in a year, one in each month, and the   
   leaves of which are the cure for the nations." Revelation 22:1-2.   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Healing Prayer at Bedtime   
   Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, go back into my memory as   
   I sleep. Every hurt that has been done to me, heal that hurt. Every   
   hurt I have caused to someone, heal that hurt. But Jesus, if there is   
   anything I need to do, if a person is still suffering from my   
   wickedness, bring to my awareness that which I have hurt and need to   
   remedy. I choose to forgive others and I ask to be forgiven. Remove   
   whatever bitterness that remains in my heart, and fill it with Your   
   everlasting love. Amen   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)