From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
    -- 1 John 4:19-21 --   
      
      We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates   
   his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he   
   has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us   
   this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.   
   ================================   
   It is easy to say we love God when that love doesn't cost anything more than   
   weekly attendance at religious services. But the real test of our love for    
   God is how we treat the people right in front of us--our friends, co-workers,   
   family members and fellow believers. We cannot truly love God while   
   neglecting to love those who are created in his image.   
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   January 19th - Saint Absadah of Egypt   
   (dates unknown, circa 300)   
      
   January 19 marks the feast day of Saint Absadah of Egypt. Absadah was   
   born in Behnesa, Egypt at the height of the Diocletianic persecution   
   of Christians, also known as the Great Persecution. During his rule,   
   Emperor Diocletian, building upon the rules first implemented by   
   Emperor Decius, actively implemented laws to dissuade Christians from   
   preaching their faith, believing their faith, and living their faith.   
   Christians were stripped of their possessions, discharged from the   
   armed forces, and relocated. Christians were forced to participate in   
   pagan sacrifices and rituals and to renounce their faith. Punishment   
   of disobeying these laws included arrest, torture, and death. However,   
   this was also a time of great Catholic martyrs—those individuals who   
   lived their faith, and as a result, died for their faith. Without   
   exception, these martyrs went to their deaths without defending   
   themselves in a variety of manners, including burning, beheading, and   
   being torn apart by wild animals. While the Emperor hoped their deaths   
   would discourage the practice of Christianity, the curious calm and   
   conviction of faith of these great martyrs only served to spread the   
   faith throughout the Roman Empire. It is estimated that nearly 3,000   
   Christians were killed for their faith during this great persecution.   
      
   Saint Absadah was a priest of the Church in Egypt, where the   
   persecution of Christians had not yet reached. He feared the   
   unavoidable onset of persecution, however, and was generally consumed   
   by his anxiety. When official decrees announced the laws of the Roman   
   Empire in Egypt, Absadah barricaded himself in his home, planning to   
   hide from persecution, and losing faith in the protection of the Lord.   
   For him, at that moment, Christianity became an inconvenience.   
      
   Miraculously, Jesus appeared to Absadah, unhindered by the barricade   
   and locks on the doors. His message, spoken, was quite plain: "No   
   security can repel me, Absadah, and no persecution can truly kill me   
   for I am the resurrection and the life."   
      
   Absadah realized that to hide was to deny Jesus, the Catholic faith,   
   and the protection of the Resurrection. Absadah left his home and   
   turned himself into the authorities. He was tried in court in   
   Alexandria, found guilty of believing in an “unapproved power,” and   
   sentenced to death. Absadah was beheaded outside the city before a   
   crowd of onlookers who were moved by his faith, conviction, and   
   courage.   
      
   The early martyrs of the Church faced persecution and death for their   
   beliefs. They held firm to the convictions of their faith, namely that   
   the Son of God, executed for our sins, would protect them in the   
   Resurrection of the body, just as He has been resurrected. The life of   
   Absadah reminds us that Jesus has already won victory for us over any   
   struggle, sin, or persecution we suffer, as long as we trust Him and   
   put our faith in the Lord. How often do we think we can solve life’s   
   problems—both the tiny daily struggles and the larger concerns? We   
   sweat and worry and focus on our solutions, rather than turning to the   
   Lord. Today, we pray for the faith of Absadah—faith in the   
   resurrection and the life.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   The garden of the Lord, brethren, includes--yes, it truly   
   includes--includes not only the roses of martyrs but also the lilies   
   of virgins, and the ivy of married people, and the violets of widows.   
   There is absolutely no kind of human beings, my dearly beloved,   
   who need to despair of their vocation; Christ suffered for all. It was   
   very truly written about him: who wishes all men to be saved,    
   and to come to the acknowledgment of the truth.   
   -- Saint Augustine of Hippo   
      
   Future Glory   
   18 I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth   
   comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.  [Romans 8:18]   
   RSVCE   
      
   <><><><>   
   O Lord Our God   
      
   O Lord our God, what sins I have this day committed in word, deed, or   
   thought, forgive me, for You are gracious, and You love all men. Grant me   
   peaceful and undisturbed sleep, send me Your guardian angel to protect and   
   guard me from every evil, for You are the guardian of our souls and bodies,   
   and to You we ascribe glory, to the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost,   
   now and forever and unto the ages of ages. - Amen   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)