From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   — John 3:19-21 —   
      
   19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world,   
   and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were   
   evil. 20 For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not   
   come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who   
   does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that   
   his deeds have been wrought in God.   RSVCE   
   ===================   
   People don't want their lives exposed to God's light because they are   
   afraid of what will be revealed. They don't want to be changed. Don't   
   be surprised when these same people are threatened by your desire to   
   obey God and do what is right, because they are afraid that the light   
   in you may expose some of the darkness in their lives. Rather than   
   giving in to discouragement, keep praying that they will come to see   
   how much better it is to live in light than in darkness.   
      
      
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   February 7th – Blessed Rizziero of Muccia   
   (Also known as Ricerio, Rinieri)   
      
   Memorial 7 February   
   12 February (on some calendars)   
      
   WHEN St Francis of Assisi, seemingly on August 15, 1222, preached that   
   unforgettable sermon at Bologna of which Thomas of Spalatro has left   
   us a vivid picture, two well-born students of the university were so   
   impressed that they abandoned the world and offered themselves at once   
   for a life of poverty and toil amongst the Friars Minor. One of these   
   was Rizzerio, who belonged to a wealthy family at Muccia, not far from   
   Camerino. The incident is recorded in chapter 27 of the Fioretti,   
   where, however, by some strange confusion Rizzerio is called Rinieri.   
   We are told that St Francis knew by revelation that both applicants   
   were sent by God and that they would lead a holy life in the order,   
   and accordingly, “Knowing their great fervour, he received them   
   gladly”.   
      
   He prophesied at the same time that while Peregrine, though a learned   
   canonist, was to remain in the path of lowliness and never become a   
   priest, Rizzerio would “serve his brethren”.  It will be remembered   
   that among the Franciscans the title given to the higher superiors is   
   minister (i.e. servant), and Rizzerio accordingly received holy orders   
   and became in the end provincial minister of the Marches.   
      
      Our early documents, notably the Actus beati Francisci, reproduced   
   in the Fioretti, describe him as most intimate with and tenderly   
   beloved by the saint in the last years of his life on earth, and there   
   is a touching story of Rizzerio’s temptation to despair of Gods mercy.   
   For a long time he fought it by fasts and flagellations and prayers,   
   but at last he determined to have recourse to his beloved father.   
      
      “ If ”, he said, “ Brother Francis shall make me welcome, and shall   
   treat me as his familiar friend, even as he is wont to do, I believe   
   that God will yet have pity on me; but if not, it will be a sign that   
   I shall be abandoned of God.” St Francis was grievously ill at the   
   time, but he knew by revelation of Rizzerio’s temptation and of his   
   coming. So calling Brothers Leo and Maneo he said to them, “ Go   
   quickly to meet my dearest son, Brother Rizzerio, and embrace him in   
   my name and bid him welcome and tell him that among all the friars   
   that are in the world I love him exceedingly.” And when at length the   
   sorely tempted brother came to where St. Francis lay, the saint rose   
   up in spite of his illness and went to meet him.   
      
      “And he made the sign of the most holy cross upon his brow and   
   there he kissed him, and afterward said to him, ‘ Dearest son, God   
   hath permitted thee to be thus tempted for thy great gain of merit;   
   but if thou wouldst not have this gain any more, have it not!’” Then   
   the temptation departed from him never to return.   
      
      It was apparently to Brother Rizzerio also that St. Francis told   
   his original intention regarding the practice of poverty in the order,   
   viz, that no friar ought to have any possessions whatever, not even   
   books, but only his habit and breeches and the cord with which he was   
   girded. Brother Rizzerio seems to have died young, March 26, 1236. His   
   cultus was confirmed in 1836.   
      
       See the Speculum Perfectionis, ch. 2 the Actus b. Francisci, chs.   
   36 and 37 the early portions of Wadding’s Annales, and the Analecta   
   Franciscana, vol. iv, pp. 283-285.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Truly we are passing through disastrous times, when we may well make   
   our own the lamentation of the Prophet: "There is no truth, and there   
   is no mercy, and there is no knowledge of God in the land” (Hosea   
   4:1). Yet in the midst of this tide of evil, the Virgin Most Merciful   
   rises before our eyes like a rainbow, as the arbiter of peace between   
   God and man.   
   --Pope Saint Pius X   
      
   Bible Quotes:   
   Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.  (Psalm 61:3)   
      
   We are hard pressed on every side yet not crushed; we are perplexed,   
   but not in despair; persecuted but not forsaken; struck down but not   
   destroyed.  (2 Corinthians 4:8-9)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   "EVERY DAY I NEED YOU LORD."   
      
      
   Every day I need you Lord   
   But this day especially,   
   I need some extra strength   
   To face whatever is to be.   
   This day more than any day   
   I need to feel you near,   
   To fortify my courage   
   And to overcome my fear.   
   By myself, I cannot meet   
   The challenge of the hour,   
   There are times when humans help,   
   But we need a higher power   
   To assist us bear what must be borne,   
   and so dear Lord, I pray,   
   Hold on to my trembling hand   
   And be near me today.   
      
   Amen.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)