From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Recall your mind to the presence of God…   
      
   “As often as you can during the day, recall your mind to the presence   
   of God…. Consider what God is doing, what you are doing. You will   
   always find God’s eyes fixed on you in unchangeable love. Our hearts   
   should each day seek a resting-place on Calvary or near our Lord, in   
   order to retire there to rest from worldly cares and to find strength   
   against temptation. Remember frequently to retire into the solitude of   
   your heart, even while you are externally occupied in business or   
   society. This mental solitude need not be hindered even though many   
   people may be around you, for they surround your body not your heart,   
   which should remain alone in the presence of God. As David said, “My   
   eyes are ever looking at the Lord.” We are rarely so taken up in our   
   exchanges with others as to be unable from time to time to move our   
   hearts into solitude with God.”   
   --Saint Francis de Sales:   
      
   ==============   
   January 23rd - St. John the Almsgiver   
   (7th Century)   
      
   Posterity often gives to leaders nicknames that record their most   
   striking traits. Guess what the Greek Christians of Alexandria, Egypt,   
   found the chief trait of their generous archbishop patriarch John?   
      
   For 14 centuries, Christianity – East and West – has remembered him   
   solely as Joannes Eleemosynarius: John the Giver of Alms.   
      
   John was born in the isle of Cyprus around 550 AD, the son of the   
   governor. A nobleman of means, John married young and had several   
   children. Death soon took away both his wife and family. The devout   
   widower therefore resolved to become a monk. On entering the   
   monastery, he gave his personal wealth to the needy, and soon won the   
   respect of all as a person of gentle holiness.   
      
   Around the year 608, the Greek Christians of the great patriarchate of   
   Alexandria, having lost their bishop, asked that this John of Cyprus   
   be named to succeed him. Now about fifty, John accepted. The diocese   
   he took over was in a sad state. Theological disputes and other   
   antagonisms had well nigh destroyed the spirit of mutual love among   
   its Christians. The task of reconciliation seemed almost superhuman.   
      
   The new patriarch came prepared with a solution that was superhuman.   
   He would set an example of Christian charity towards the poor. That,   
   he rightly believed, would re-create an atmosphere of love among his   
   people.   
      
   On first arriving, John asked for a list of his “lords and masters.”   
   “Who?” they asked him. “The poor,” he replied. The poor who go to   
   heaven, he explained, are most powerful in helping those who have   
   helped them on earth. We need that help. So he was given a list of   
   7500 known poor. These he took under his official protection.   
      
   Every Wednesday and Friday he sat all day in front of the church to   
   receive anybody who was in need or had other complaints. For those   
   poor people and for local charitable institutions he emptied the   
   diocesan treasury. “God will provide,” he said to his treasurers, when   
   they gasped at seeing the diocesan capital depleted. At the same time,   
   he forbade all his officers and servants to accept presents, which   
   were a sort of bribe. He likewise saw to it that taxes imposed on the   
   poor were repealed, and that fraudulent weights and measurements used   
   so oppressively in dealing with the lower classes were standardized.   
   When refugees from Syria and Palestine swarmed into Egypt before the   
   plundering armies of Persia, Patriarch John gave them first aid and   
   helped them to rebuild the nations of the displaced persons.   
      
   All along, John set a constant example of personal charity. Once, for   
   instance, an admiring friend gave him a warm rug to replace the one   
   thin blanket on his bed. Uncomfortable about this luxury, the bishop   
   used it one night only. The next day he sold it and gave the price to   
   the poor. His benefactor, learning of the trick, gave him a new   
   blanket, which he promptly sold; then still another and another. John   
   told him, with a smile, “We shall see who will get tired first.”   
      
   The point was, of course, that when others saw his love for the needy,   
   they opened their own purses. If they didn’t, he good-naturedly ribbed   
   them until they forked over for the poor.   
      
   Meanwhile, Patriarch John was taking good care of his other church   
   duties. One delightful story is told of his dealings with those who   
   were casual about attending Mass. Noticing that many amused themselves   
   outside the church during divine service, he went out one day during   
   the liturgy and sat among them. “My children,” he explained, “the   
   shepherd must be with his flock” Embarrassed by this tender rebuke,   
   they missed Mass no more.   
      
   John died in exile in 619 because of a Persian invasion, although he   
   met his end, it so happened, in his native Cyprus. But he left   
   Alexandria a far better place than he had found it.   
      
   In his youth, John the Almsgiver had had a vision of a beautiful woman   
   wearing a crown of olive leaves. Identifying herself as Charity or   
   Compassion, she had said to him, “I am the oldest daughter of the   
   King. If you will be my friend, I will lead you to Him.”   
      
   Following her counsel, he had brought charity back to Alexandria. He   
   had also become a symbol of compassionate love to all Christians.   
   Today he is honored as a man of supreme charity by Christians of both   
   East and West.   
   –Father Robert   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   We put pride into everything like salt. We like to see that our good   
   works are known. If our virtues are seen, we are pleased; if our   
   faults are perceived, we are sad. I remark that in a great many   
   people; if one says anything to them, it disturbs them, it annoys   
   them. The saints were not like that--they were vexed if their virtues   
   were known, and pleased that their imperfections should be seen.   
   --St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   Dearly beloved, think not strange the burning heat which is to try   
   you: as if some new thing happened to you. But if you partake of the   
   sufferings of Christ, rejoice that, when his glory shall be revealed,   
   you may also be glad with exceeding joy.  (1 Peter 4:12-13) DRB   
      
      
   An offering to the Holy Ghost:   
      
   On my knees, before the multitude of heavenly witnesses, I offer   
   myself, soul and body, to Thee, Eternal Spirit of God!  I adore Thee,   
   great God, and acknowledge Thy dominion over me.   
      
   Thou art the light and the strength of my soul.  In Thee I live and   
   move and have my being.  I desire never to grieve Thee by   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)