From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Christ builds his church with living stones   
      
       To call someone a "rock" was one of the greatest compliments in   
   the ancient world. The rabbis had a saying that when God saw Abraham,   
   he exclaimed: "I have discovered a rock to found the world upon."   
   Through Abraham God established a nation for himself. Through faith   
   Peter grasped who Jesus truly was--the Anointed One (Messiah and   
   Christ) and the only begotten Son of God. The New Testament describes   
   the church as a spiritual house or temple with each member joined   
   together as living stones (see 1 Peter 2:5).   
       Faith in Jesus Christ makes us into rocks or spiritual stones. The   
   Holy Spirit gives us the gift of faith to know the Lord Jesus   
   personally, power to live the gospel faithfully, and courage to   
   witness the truth and joy of the Gospel to others. The Lord Jesus is   
   ever ready to draw us to himself.  Do you seek to grow in the   
   knowledge and love of the Lord Jesus Christ?   
      
   Prayer:   
   "Lord Jesus Christ, fill me with the power of your Holy Spirit that I   
   may grow in the knowledge of your great love and truth. Let your   
   Spirit be aflame in my heart that I may joyfully seek to do your will   
   in all things."   
      
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   December 4th - St. Barbara, Virgin and Martyr   
   (Died 306)   
      
   Saint Barbara was brought up by a pagan father, Dioscorus. With the   
   intention of protecting her beauty, he kept her jealously secluded in   
   a lonely but very luxurious tower which he built for that purpose; for   
   in his own way he loved her. In her forced solitude, this very gifted   
   young girl undertook to study religion, and soon saw clearly all the   
   vices and absurdities of paganism; her clear mind realized that there   
   could be only one supreme Creator-God, and that  He is entitled to the   
   worship of His reasonable creatures. Divine Providence by its   
   wonderful ways contrived to obtain for her the means to send a message   
   to  Origen, the famous exegete, asking for knowledge of the Christian   
   faith. That teacher of Alexandria immediately sent to her, at   
   Nicomedia, a disciple named Valentinian. Soon she was baptized, and   
   Our Lord appeared to her, as He would appear to others such as Saint   
   Catherine of Alexandria and Saint Teresa of Avila, to tell her He had   
   chosen her to be His spouse. Saint Barbara, rejoicing,  hoped to be   
   able to communicate her precious new faith to her father, but would   
   soon discover that hope was vain.   
      
   When she was of an age to marry, many requests for her hand came to   
   her wealthy father. She was his only heiress, and he rejected her   
   expressed wish not to accept any such offer, although she said she   
   wished to remain his consolation for his declining years. When she   
   continued to refuse every suitor's demands, and when Dioscorus   
   returned from a journey to find all the idols he had placed in her   
   tower broken in pieces and scattered about, he was furious.   
   Discovering his daughter's conversion, he was beside himself with   
   rage. She escaped and dwelt for a time in a cavern, where she was   
   concealed by the vegetation growing at the entrance. But finally her   
   father's threats of chastisement, which he made  known during his   
   searches, for anyone who might be concealing her, caused some local   
   shepherds who knew of her whereabouts, to reveal her retreat.   
      
   Her father denounced her to the civil tribunal, and Barbara was   
   horribly tortured twice, and finally beheaded. Her own father,   
   merciless to the last, asked to deal her the fatal blow himself. God,   
   however, speedily punished her persecutors. While her soul was being   
   borne by the Angels to Paradise, a flash of lightning struck Dioscorus   
   and Marcian, the civil prefect, and both were summoned in haste to the   
   judgment-seat of God.   
      
   Saint Barbara is beloved of the Spanish-speaking peoples. She is the   
   special  protectress of the region of Metz in France, where a   
   magnificent church, later destroyed, was built in her honor in the   
   1500's. She is invoked against sudden and unprovided death, and   
   invariably answers all requests for the favor of  receiving the Last   
   Sacraments. A famous instance of her intervention on behalf of a Saint   
   who was on the verge of death, can be read in the life of Saint   
   Stanislaus Kostka.   
      
   Reflection: Pray often to be protected from a sudden and unprovided   
   death; and, above all, that you may be strengthened by the Holy   
   Viaticum against the dangers of your final hour.   
      
   Saint Quote:   
   God had one son on earth without sin, but never one without suffering.   
   --Saint Augustine of Hippo   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   He hath not dealt with us according to our sins: nor rewarded us   
   according to our iniquities.  For according to the height of the   
   heaven above the earth: he hath strengthened his mercy towards them   
   that fear him.  (Psalms 102:10-11)   
      
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   DAILY ADVENT PRAYER   
   By Fr Henri J M Nouwen (1932-1996)   
      
   Lord Jesus,   
   Master of both the light and the darkness,   
   send Your Holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas.   
   We, who have so much to do, seek quiet spaces   
   to hear Your voice each day.   
   We, who are anxious over many things   
   look forward to Your coming among us.   
   We, who are blessed in so many ways   
   long for the complete joy of Your kingdom.   
   We, whose hearts are heavy   
   seek the joy of Your presence.   
   We, are Your people,   
   walking in darkness,   
   yet seeking the light.   
   To You we say, “Come Lord Jesus!”   
   Amen!   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)