From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
    -- John 13:34-35 --   
      
   A new commandment[a]I give to you, that you love one another; even as   
   I have loved you, that you also love one another.35By this all men   
   will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one   
   another.”  RSVCE   
      
   Footnote:   
   1. 13.34new commandment:Jesus gives a new depth to the familiar   
   commandment of the Old Testament. The standard now is, “as I have   
   loved you.”   
   ===================   
   Love is more than simply warm feelings; it is an attitude that reveals   
   itself in action. How can we love others as Jesus loves us? By helping   
   when it's not convenient, by giving when it hurts, by devoting energy   
   to others' welfare rather than our own, by absorbing hurts from others   
   without complaining or fighting back. This kind of loving is hard to   
   do. That is why people notice when you do it and know you are   
   empowered by a supernatural source.   
      
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   March 2nd - Bl. Charles the Good   
   (Twelfth Century)   
      
   The head of a state, whether man or woman, has a heavy and thankless   
   responsibility. Whether he is emperor, absolute monarch, dictator,   
   prime minister or president, he is bound in conscience to promote the   
   progress of his people, to protect them against external and internal   
   subversion, and to aid them in times of disaster. Since “the buck   
   stops” at rulers’ desks, they can’t avoid having enemies: “friendly”   
   enemies who by their fawning will praise the “boss” as perfect (which   
   he never is); antagonistic enemies who will seek to entrap and even to   
   kill him.   
      
   Blessed Charles the Good, who died in 1127, exemplifies a ruler so   
   conscientious that he suffered martyrdom. Charles was the son of St.   
   Canute, King of Denmark, and was Count of Flanders and Amiens, a dual   
   principality that occupied the present Belgium and northwest France.   
      
   Falling heir to this princely crown almost by chance, Charles had to   
   deal for a while with several counter-claimants to his position. As   
   soon as things had settled down, however, he set about making his   
   lands a good and decent place to live. Blasphemy he abhorred; and in   
   his own castles he imposed forty days of bread and water on those who   
   abused God’s name. The laws he enacted for his princedom were well   
   planned, and he enforced them strictly. But in the last analysis he   
   ruled more by good example than by power. He was especially attentive   
   to the poor. (When critics said he was overdoing charity, he replied,   
   “It is because I know so well the needs of the poor and the pride of   
   the rich.”) For instance, he forbade taking away a child without the   
   consent of its parents; and he severely punished any oppression of the   
   helpless poor.   
      
   The winter of 1124-1125 was brutal, and a frightful famine followed.   
   Charles set up feeding stations at each of his castles. At Bruges he   
   fed 100 daily; at Ypres he distributed 7800 loaves of bread in a   
   single day.   
      
   Now, whenever disaster befalls, there will always be parasites who try   
   to make money out of it. Two prominent people of Bruges, (one of them,   
   unfortunately, a churchman), were caught red-handed at profiteering in   
   grain when Charles enacted a new law designed to prevent this sort of   
   scalping. The two profiteers, joined by a local magistrate whom   
   Charles had disciplined for his violence, determined to kill the   
   monarch who was interfering with their “business.”   
      
   Charles, a consistently devout man, used to go barefoot each morning   
   to pray at the church of St. Donatian in Bruges. One day a friend   
   warned him that there was a conspiracy afoot against him. “We are   
   always in the midst of dangers,” the Count replied, “but we belong to   
   God. If it is His will, can we die in a better cause than for justice   
   and truth?” So he went to church. Kneeling before the Lady Altar, he   
   prayed the psalm of mercy, the Miserere. At this point the   
   conspirators surged in, swords in hand. One sliced off the arm of the   
   Count, the other sliced open his skull.   
      
   It took only a tiny minority of Charles’s enemies to put an end to his   
   good rule. The majority of his people, appropriately calling him   
   Charles the Good, hailed him at once as a martyr to Christian duty.   
   Each year since then, the feast of his death has been solemnly   
   observed in the cathedral of Bruges where his relics are enshrined.   
      
   The life and death of Blessed Charles the Good is a reminder to heads   
   of state that they receive their authority from God and are answerable   
   for its discharge only to Him. It is also a reminder to us, whenever   
   we exercise any authority. We will always have enemies when we uphold   
   justice. That’s the way it is.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   It was revealed to St. Gertrude that those who submit and conform   
   themselves entirely to the Divine will, desiring above all things that   
   the adorable will of God may be most fully done in all that concerns   
   them whether in body or in soul, touch the Sacred Heart most sensibly.   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for His   
   sheep.  (John 10:11)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Prayer To Follow The Call Of Christ.   
      
   Lord, I thank you for the gifts you have given me,   
   especially for life, love, family and friends.   
   Help me to know myself better and to know my talents,   
   as I pray, study and decide on my life's work.   
   Help me to see and understand the path you open for me.   
   Help me choose a life's work   
   which will be in response to my potential   
   and your love for me.   
   If I am being invited to follow you as a priest,   
   brother, sister, give me a generous heart   
   to respond to your challenging call   
   and the strength to follow you wherever you lead me.   
      
   Amen.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)