From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Why did Jesus speak to people in parables?   
      
    Why did Jesus speak to people in parables? Like the rabbis of his   
   time, Jesus used simple word-pictures, called parables, to help people   
   understand who God is and what his kingdom or reign is like. Jesus   
   used images and characters taken from everyday life to create a   
   miniature play or drama to illustrate his message. This was Jesus'   
   most common way of teaching. His stories appealed to the young and   
   old, poor and rich, and to the learned and unlearned as well. Over a   
   third of the Gospels by Matthew, Mark, and Luke contain parables told   
   by Jesus.   
   --Cyril of Alexandria (150-215 AD ), an early church teacher,   
   described the purpose of Jesus' parables:   
      
      
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   June 4th - St. Francis Caracciolo   
      
   Born at Villa Santa Maria, Abruzzi, Italy, October 13, 1563; died June   
   4, 1608; canonized in 1807. Francis was baptized Ascanio. His father   
   was related to the Neapolitan princes of Caracciolo, and his mother   
   was related to Saint Thomas Aquinas. At 22, Francis developed a skin   
   disease similar to leprosy, and his case was thought to be hopeless.   
   He vowed that if he recovered, he would devote his life to God and to   
   serving others. His speedy recovery was thought to be miraculous.   
      
   He went to Naples to study for the priesthood and, after his   
   ordination, joined the confraternity Bianchi della Giustizia, devoted   
   to the care of prisoners and who prepared them to die a holy death.   
      
   In 1588, Fr. John Augustine Adorno, a Genoese, set out to found an   
   association of priests who would combine the active life of pastoral   
   work and the strictest possible discipline to encourage contemplative   
   life. A letter inviting the cooperation of another Ascanio Caracciolo   
   was mistakenly delivered to Francis, rather than his distant kinsman.   
   Agreeing with Adorno's vision, Francis felt the God must have   
   misdirected the letter to him. Francis wished to join Adorno, offered   
   his help, and the two made a 40-day retreat to draw up the rules for   
   the proposed order.   
      
   When they had gathered 12 followers, they went to Rome to obtain   
   approval from the pope. Sixtus V approved their new order, the Minor   
   Clerks Regular, on June 1, 1588. They did missionary work and cared   
   for the sick and prisoners. The next year, Caracciolo made his solemn   
   profession and took the name of Francis, in honor of Saint Francis of   
   Assisi. The company settled in a house in the suburbs of Naples, and   
   Francis and Adorno traveled to Spain, in keeping with the pope's   
   wishes that they establish themselves there.   
      
   The court of Madrid refused permission for the house, however, and   
   they were forced to return. They were shipwrecked on the way back, and   
   by the time they arrived in Naples, their foundation had flourished   
   and was unable to contain all those who wished to join it. They were   
   invited to take over the monastery of Santa Maria Maggiore, whose   
   former superior, Fabriccio Caracciolo, had joined their order.   
      
   The Minor Clerks Regular worked mostly as missioners, but some worked   
   in hospitals and prisons. Hermitages were provided for those who   
   wished solitude. Perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is one   
   of the main duty of the order.   
      
   Francis contracted a serious illness; soon after his own recovery,   
   Adorno died at the age of 40. Against his wishes, Francis was named   
   superior, but he swept rooms, made beds, and washed up in the kitchen   
   just as the others did. During his life, he refused several bishoprics   
   because the Minor Clerks Regular took a fourth vow: Never to seek any   
   office or dignity either within the order or outside it. Returning to   
   Spain in 1595 and 1598, Francis successfully founded houses in Madrid,   
   Valladolid, and Alcalá.   
      
   After seven years as superior, he obtained permission from the pope to   
   resign and became prior of Santa Maria Maggiore and master of the   
   novices. In 1607, he gave up his administrative duties for a time of   
   contemplation to prepare for death. He lived in a recess beneath the   
   staircase of a Neapolitan house, where he was often found in ecstasy.   
      
   Meanwhile, Saint Philip Neri offered the Minor Clerks Regular a house   
   at Agnone in the Abruzzi, and Francis was asked to help with the new   
   establishment. He traveled there but he soon developed a fever, which   
   rapidly worsened. While feverish, he dictated a letter in which he   
   exhorted his brethren to remain faithful to the rule. He fell into   
   meditation. An hour before sunset, he cried out, "To heaven!" A moment   
   later, he died. Miracles, ecstasies, and prophecies have been   
   attributed to him (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Encyclopedia,   
   Walsh, White).   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   The reason why sometimes you have asked and not received,   
   is because you have asked amiss, either inconsistently, or lightly,   
   or because you have asked for what was not good for you,   
   or because you have ceased asking.   
   --Saint Basil the Great   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   Fulfil ye my joy, that you be of one mind, having the same charity,   
   being of one accord, agreeing in sentiment.  Let nothing be done   
   through contention: neither by vain glory. But in humility, let each   
   esteem others better than themselves:Each one not considering the   
   things that are his own, but those that are other men's.   
   [Philippians 2:2-4] DRB   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   A prayer from The Imitation of Christ, of Thomas `a Kempis:   
      
   I offer up unto Thee my prayers and intercessions, for those   
   especially who have in any matter hurt, grieved, or found fault with   
   me, or who have done me any damage or displeasure. For all those also   
   whom, at any time, I may have vexed, troubled, burdened, and   
   scandalized, by words or deeds, knowingly or in ignorance; that Thou   
   wouldeth grant us all equally pardon for our sins, and for our   
   offences against each other. Take away from our hearts, O Lord, all   
   suspiciousness, indignation, wrath, and contention, and whatsoever may   
   hurt charity, and lessen brotherly love. Have mercy, O Lord, have   
   mercy on those that crave Thy mercy, give grace unto them that stand   
   in need thereof, and make us such as that we may be worthy to enjoy   
   Thy grace, and go forward to life eternal. Amen.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)