From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   John points to Jesus' saving mission   
      
   "No longer does John need to 'prepare the way,' since the one for whom   
   the preparation was being made is right there before his eyes... But   
   now he who of old was dimly pictured, the very Lamb, the spotless   
   Sacrifice, is led to the slaughter for all, that he might drive away   
   the sin of the world, that he might overturn the destroyer of the   
   earth, that dying for all he might annihilate death, that he might   
   undo the curse that is upon us... For one Lamb died for all (2   
   Corinthians 5:14), saving the whole flock on earth to God the Father,   
   one for all, that he might subject all to God."   
    by Cyril of Alexandria (excerpt from the COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 2.1)   
      
      
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   January 22nd – Bl. William Joseph Chaminade   
   (Also known as Guillaume Joseph Chaminade)   
   1761-1850   
      
   To the south of Bordeaux a road leads down across the Pyrenees into   
   Spain. This was the road Father William Joseph Chaminade followed into   
   exile in September of 1797. He was a French priest in disguise,   
   escaping the enemies of the Church in his native land. Close by lay   
   the danger of arrest. Other priests had already died as martyrs. But   
   Father Chaminade was at peace. He was a man of faith.   
      
   The night before his journey into exile Father Chaminade wrote: “What   
   is a faithful man to do in the chaos of events which seem to swallow   
   him up? He must sustain himself calmly by Faith. Faith will make him   
   adore the eternal plan of God. Faith will assure him that to those who   
   love God all things work together for good.”   
      
   In Saragossa, Spain, near the Shrine of Our Lady of the Pillar, Father   
   Chaminade settled down to wait out his exile. Here he prayed and   
   planned for his future work. And here he received from Our Lady a   
   special message. He was to be Mary’s missionary. He was to found a   
   society of religious who would work with her to restore the Faith in   
   France.   
      
   So vivid and detailed was the inspiration given to Father Chaminade,   
   that years later he could say to his first religious, “As I see you   
   now before me, I saw you in spirit at Saragossa, long before the   
   foundation of the Society. It was Mary who conceived the plan of the   
   Society. It was she who laid its foundations, and she will continue to   
   preserve it.”   
      
   Two of Father Chaminade’s favorite prayers reveal the intensity of his   
   love of God and of Mary:   
   “The most just, most high, and most amiable will of God be done,   
   praised, and eternally exalted in all things!”   
   “May the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit be glorified in all   
   places through the Immaculate Virgin Mary.”   
      
   Father Chaminade returned to Bordeaux in 1800. There he established   
   Sodalities of Our Lady which spread their influence throughout France.   
   He considered himself a missionary of Mary. Strong in his love for Our   
   Blessed Mother, he gathered men and women around him who dedicated   
   their lives to her service.   
      
   Working together, these men and women of Faith began to rebuild the   
   Church which had been destroyed. The Society of Mary and the Daughters   
   of Mary sprang from the sodalities of Father Chaminade. These groups   
   continue to do Mary’s work in countries all over the world. Because   
   Chaminade’s work was the work of Mary, it remains. And the words of   
   this man of Faith still speak to us today.   
      
   From the Chapel of the Madeleine as from a fountain, grace poured   
   throughout the entire city of Bordeaux and southern France. To this   
   day the Madeleine, in the old down-town section of Bordeaux, is a   
   center of Christian life. There Marianist priests and brothers,   
   members of the religious congregation Father Chaminade founded,   
   minister to the people. Many come to pray, to receive the Sacraments,   
   or to seek spiritual refreshment.   
      
   From the beginning Father Chaminade invited people from varied   
   backgrounds to work with him. There were husbands and wives, teachers,   
   business men, young men and women, seminarians, priests, and   
   representatives of every class.   
      
   -Together they worked to rebuild the shattered Faith in France.   
   -Together they found a deepening of their own Faith in the imitation of Jesus.   
   -Together they responded to the words of Mary at Cana, “Do whatever He   
   tells you.”   
      
   Father Chaminade called this group the Family of Mary. Their   
   outstanding characteristic was a deep spirit of Faith. For Chaminade,   
   Faith expresses itself most perfectly in the imitation of Christ.   
      
   Father Chaminade never tired of speaking about the strong, victorious   
   Virgin Mother of Christ:   
   “Jesus made Mary the companion of His labors, of His joy, of His   
   preaching, of His death. Mary had a part in all the glorious, joyous,   
   and sorrowful mysteries of Jesus. The deposit of the Faith is entirely   
   in Mary. At the foot of the Cross she held the place of the Church.   
   The mysteries which were announced to Mary were accomplished because   
   she believed.”   
      
   Chaminade died January 22, 1850. He was buried in the Carthusian   
   cemetery in Bordeaux. In 1871 his remains were removed from the   
   priest’s vault to a large square plot where a monument was erected to   
   his memory. Father John Lalanne, the first Marianist, spoke on the   
   occasion. He said, “We were witnesses during our younger days of his   
   life and words. We affirm that we never saw him spend a day, not even   
   a single hour at anything which did not relate directly to God and to   
   the welfare of souls.”   
      
   Before long people began to come to his tomb. Some of them remembered   
   him as a saintly old priest. Others knew only that a holy man was   
   buried there.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   “A true Christian cannot live any life but the life of Our Savior   
   Jesus. When we try to imitate Him the divine plan is carried out in   
   our lives. The Blessed Virgin is our Model. She is a very exact copy   
   of her Son Jesus. When we are devoted to Mary we will imitate Jesus.”   
   “YOU MUST TASTE WHAT YOU BELIEVE.”   
   --Father Chaminade   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   St. Paul writing to St. Titus: ...it was not because of any upright   
   actions we had done ourselves; it was for no reason except his own   
   faithful love that he saved us, by means of the cleansing water of   
   rebirth and renewal in the Holy Spirit which he has so generously   
   poured over us through Jesus Christ our Savior; so that, justified by   
   his grace, we should become heirs in hope of eternal life.  Titus   
   3:5-7   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   DAILY OFFERING PRAYER   
      
       O Jesus! I offer Thee this day   
       and all that I will do   
       and suffer in it,   
       for the love of Thee,   
       for the Holy Father,   
       for the conversion of sinners,   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)