From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Angels--Their Good Works   
      
   Can the Holy Angels advance in the love of God and in happiness? They   
   could during their state of probation, but they cannot do so now. Now   
   they have all the happiness of which their natures are capable. The   
   cup is full to the brim and can receive no more. Here it is that we   
   differ from them. We can advance by every good act we perform. How   
   eager we should be to omit no occasion of making progress, seeing how   
   short our time on earth will be.   
      
   Do not then the Angels merit by their service rendered to God? No, for   
   merit implies that those who merit are still on their trial. The trial   
   of the Angels is over, and the service they render to God is a part of   
   their reward. What a happy state, when everything that men do now with   
   difficulty and after a struggle with their corrupt nature, will be an   
   unmixed joy and happiness!   
      
   The Angels in this are more like to God Himself than any creatures   
   which are not yet made perfect. They have arrived at the goal of their   
   existence, instead of being still in a state of discipline and   
   consequently of suffering. They are like to God in His unclouded,   
   unapproachable, immeasurable happiness. We too shall one day be made   
   perfect and like to God Himself in the absence of all that interferes   
   with happiness. The more we seek to merit now, the more intense will   
   be the joy of seeing God in Heaven.   
      
   by the Rev. R.F. Clarke, S.J.   
      
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   October 18th - Luke the Evangelist   
      
   Almost all that we know about Luke comes from the New Testament. He   
   was a physician (Col 4:14), a companion of Paul on some of his   
   missionary journeys (Acts 16:10ff; 20:5ff; 27-28). Material found in   
   his Gospel and not elsewhere includes much of the account of Our   
   Lord's birth and infancy and boyhood, some of the most moving   
   parables, such as that of the Good Samaritan and that of the Prodigal   
   Son, and three of the sayings of Christ on the Cross: "Father, forgive   
   them," "Thou shalt be with me in Paradise," and "Father, into thy   
   hands I commend my spirit."   
      
   In Luke's account of the Gospel, we find an emphasis on the human love   
   of Christ, on His compassion for sinners and for suffering and unhappy   
   persons, for outcasts such as the Samaritans, tax collectors, lepers,   
   shepherds (not a respected profession), and for the poor. The role of   
   women in Christ's ministry is more emphasized in Luke than in the   
   other Gospel writings.   
      
   In the book of Acts, we find the early Christian community poised from   
   the start to carry out its commission, confident and aware of Divine   
   guidance. We see how the early Christians at first preached only to   
   Jews, then to Samaritans (a borderline case), then to outright   
   Gentiles like Cornelius, and finally explicitly recognized that   
   Gentiles and Jews are called on equal terms to the service and   
   fellowship of Christ.   
      
   Luke makes many casual references throughout his writings (especially   
   in Acts) to local customs and practices, often with demonstrable and   
   noteworthy precision. To mention just one example, he refers to two   
   centurions by nomen (the second of the three usual names of an ancient   
   Roman male), Cornelius in Acts 10 and Julius in Acts 27, and he calls   
   them both by nomen only, rather than by nomen and cognomen (The third   
   and usually last name of a citizen of ancient Rome) [Sergius Paulus in   
   Acts 13;7] or cognomen only (Gallio in Acts 18:12), as he does when   
   speaking of civilian officials. It is a distinction that would have   
   been routine at the time that Luke is writing about, but one that had   
   largely died out by, say, 70 AD. His preserving it shows either that:   
      
   He wrote fairly close to the events he described, or he was describing   
   persons and events on which he had good information, or he was an   
   expert historical novelist, with an ear for the authentic-sounding   
   detail.   
      
   Luke is commonly thought to be the only non-Jewish New Testament   
   writer. His writings place the life of Christ and the development of   
   the early Church in the larger context of the Roman Empire and   
   society. On the other hand, his writings are focused on Jerusalem and   
   on the Temple. His Gospel begins and ends in the Temple, and chapters   
   nine through nineteen portray Jesus as journeying from Galilee to   
   Jerusalem. Similarly, the Book of Acts describes the Church in   
   Jerusalem (and worshipping in the Temple) and then describes the   
   missionary journeys of Paul as excursions from and returns to   
   Jerusalem.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   "Charity is the queen of virtues. As the pearls are held together by   
   the thread, thus the virtues are held together by charity; as the   
   pearls fall when the thread breaks, thus virtues are lost if charity   
   diminishes."   
   --St. Padre Pio   
      
      
   <><><><>   
    Jesu Dulcis Amor Meus,   
   a hymn in honor of the Holy Wounds of Christ:   
      
   Jesus! As though Thyself wert here I draw in trembling sorrow   
   near; And hanging o'er Thy form divine, Kneel down to kiss   
   these wounds of Thine.   
      
   How pitifully Thou art laid! Bloodstained, distended, cold and   
   dead! Joy of my soul, my Saviour sweet, Upon this sacred   
   winding-sheet.   
      
   Hail, awful brow! Hail, thorny wreath! Hail, countenance now   
   pale in death! Whose glance but late so brightly blazed, That   
   angels trembled as they gazed.   
      
   And hail to thee, my Saviour's side; And hail to thee, thou   
   wound so wide: Thou would more ruddy than the rose, True   
   antidote of all our woes!   
      
   Oh, by those sacred hands and feet, For me so mangled!   
   I entreat, My Jesus, turn me not away, But let me here   
   forever stay.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)