From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
    -- John 5:45-47 --   
      
   45 Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; it is Moses who   
   accuses you, on whom you set your hope. 46 If you believed Moses, you   
   would believe me, for he wrote of me. 47 But if you do not believe his   
   writings, how will you believe my words?”   RSVCE   
   ===================   
   The reason they don't believe Him, Jesus tells them, is because they   
   don't believe Moses. But it will be their great prophet and "giver of   
   the Law" Moses who, as prosecuting attorney before the throne of God,   
   will testify that the Old Covenant Church did not listen to the   
   Firstborn Son of God when He came to offer them the gift of eternal   
   life:   
      
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   February 27th - St. John of Gorze, Abbot   
   Also known as Jean de Gorze, John of Lorraine   
      
   d. 974   
      
   THE father of John of Gorze was well on in years when his son was born   
   at Vandières near Pont-à-Mousson, and, though he lived long enough to   
   have him well educated at Metz and at Saint-Mihiel, he died before   
   John attained to manhood. The youth was called upon to look after the   
   family property, and was thus brought into touch with leading men in   
   church and state. The benefices of Vandières and of Saint-Laurent in   
   the village of Fontenoy were vested in him, and he did much to adorn   
   and beautify these churches, especially Saint-Laurent, where he would   
   sometimes spend several days in prayer when he was free from secular   
   business. Although the world still had attractions for him, he was   
   greatly influenced by an old priest who had a special devotion to the   
   Divine Office and by a holy deacon named Bernier. The church and   
   monastery on his estate were dependent on the nunnery of St. Peter at   
   Metz, and he used often to go there to serve at Mass. The accidental   
   discovery of the austerity practised by the nuns and those who were   
   under their care brought home to him the ease and luxury in which he   
   was living. From that moment he turned his mind entirely to spiritual   
   matters. He is credited with having learnt the Bible by heart, and is   
   said to have acquired an extraordinary knowledge of the Comes, the   
   Penitentials, the canons of ecclesiastical law, the homilies of the   
   fathers, and the lives of the saints, so that he could recite them as   
   though he were reading from a book.   
      
   A pilgrimage to Rome brought John into touch with various holy persons   
   who helped him to advance in the spiritual life, and he visited Monte   
   Gargano, Monte Cassino—and Vesuvius. Upon his return to Lorraine, he   
   formed a great friendship with Archdeacon Einhold of Toul, whom he   
   persuaded to give away his possessions and to join him on another   
   pilgrimage to Rome. However, Adelborn, Bishop of Metz, interposed, and   
   the two then betook themselves to the almost deserted abbey of Gorze   
   in 933. They soon instilled new life into the monastery, and Einhold   
   became abbot, with John as his prior; so severe were the austerities   
   which he undertook that his superior felt obliged to moderate them.   
   The Emperor Otto I having asked for two monks to go as his ambassadors   
   to the court of the Caliph Abdur-Rahman of Cordova, John was chosen as   
   the chief spokesman, and he fulfilled his mission with so much courage   
   and wisdom that he won the admiration of the Mussulman chief. On his   
   return in 960 he was elected abbot of Gorze, and he proceeded to   
   introduce reforms which spread to other Benedictine monasteries in   
   Upper Lorraine; the reform, like that of the contemporary St. Gerard   
   of Brogne, was marked by its physical severity. It seems rather   
   uncertain whether John should be styled “Saint”, or “Blessed”: the   
   Bollandists give the latter description, but he is popularly spoken of   
   as St. John of Gorze.   
      
   A full and historically important biography of John of Gorze was   
   written in 980 by his friend John, abbot of St. Arnulf at Metz, but   
   the only manuscript we possess is unfortunately incomplete. The text   
   has been edited by the Bollandists (Acta Sanctorum, February, vol.   
   iii), by Mabillon, and in the MGH., Scriptores, vol. iv, whence it has   
   been reprinted in Migne, PL., vol. 137, cc. 241-310. See also Mathieu,   
   De Joannis Abbatis Gorziensis Vita (1879), and Sackur, Die   
   Cluniacenser, vol. i.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Blessed the one who loves truth continually and has not lent his mouth   
   as an instrument of impiety by lying, for he fears the commandment   
   about idle speech.   
   --St. Ephrem of Syria   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   Now we are well aware that whatever the Law says is said for those who   
   are subject to the Law, so that every month may be silence, and the   
   whole world brought under the judgment of God. So then, no human being   
   can be found upright at the tribunal of God by keeping the Law; all   
   that the Law does is to tell us what is sinful. [Romans 3:19-20.]   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   A Prayer for a Pure Heart and Heavenly Wisdom   
      
   Strengthen me, O Lord God, by the grace of Your Holy Spirit.(Ps.   
   51:12) Grant me inward power and strength (Eph.3:16) and empty my   
   heart of all profitless anxiety and care.(Matt.5:34) Let me never be   
   drawn away from You by desire for anything else, whether noble or   
   base, but help me to realize that all things are passing, and myself   
   with them. Nothing in this world is lasting, and everything in this   
   life is uncertain, troubling to the spirit (Eccles.1:14; 2:11) How   
   wise is the man who knows these truths! Grant me heavenly wisdom, O   
   Lord, that above all else I may learn to search for and discover You;   
   to know and love You; and to see all things as they really are and as   
   You in Thy wisdom have ordered them. May I prudently avoid those who   
   flatter me, and deal patiently with those who oppose me. True wisdom   
   cannot be swayed by every wordy argument, (Eph.4:14) and pays no   
   regard to the cunning flatteries of evil men. Only thus shall we go   
   forward steadily on the road on which we have set out.   
   --Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Bk 3, Ch 27   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)