From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Good Pupils   
      
   "Christians must seek to advance toward God evey day and always to   
   rejoice in God or in his gifts. Our exile here on earth is very short,   
   and our native land is timeless. Here we seek devotion to God, but   
   there we rest.   
      
   We must calculate our gains daily. We must be not only eager listeners   
   but careful workers. This school of life, in which God is the only   
   teacher, looks for good pupils who will not desert but remain loyal."   
   --St. Augustine--Sermon 16A, 1   
      
   Prayer: May God in his mercy grant that every day we may be troubled,   
   tried, disciplined, or make some progress.   
   --St. Augustine--Sermon 16A, 12   
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   January 3rd - The Most Holy Name of Jesus   
      
   Today, and all days, we honor the Holy Name of Jesus (The letters IHS   
   are an abbreviation of Jesous, the Greek name for Jesus). We do this   
   not because we believe that there is any supernatural or intrinsic   
   power hidden in the letters composing it, but because the Name of   
   Jesus reminds us of all the blessings we receive. To give thanks for   
   these blessings we revere the Holy Name, just as we honor His Passion   
   by revering His Cross.   
      
   The Name of Jesus, called upon with confidence and faith yields   
   assistance in our bodily needs, gives consolation in spiritual trials,   
   protects us against Satan and his trickery, and grants us blessings   
   and grace far beyond our imagination. This is why the Church concludes   
   her prayers with reverence, using the words: "Through Our Lord Jesus   
   Christ.”   
      
   Everything that exists was created in and through the Son of God. The   
   name of Jesus is debased if any Christian uses it as justification for   
   berating others. Jesus reminds us that because we are all related to   
   Him we are, therefore, all related to one another.   
      
   Today, as we pray the Holy Rosary, we call upon our Lord and Savior,   
   Jesus Christ, to fill our hearts with love and forgiveness for all of   
   our brothers and sisters on the earth, as well as for ourselves. We   
   remember that we are all related through Christ, whose Most Holy Name   
   should never be used as a weapon against others. We remember the words   
   of Mary, the Mother of God, at Beauraing, and pray always for   
   conversion, and the strength and conviction to make sacrifices for   
   those around us.   
   by Jacob   
      
   Quote: “Glorious name, gracious name, name of love and of power!   
   Through you sins are forgiven, through you enemies are vanquished,   
   through you the sick are freed from their illness, through you those   
   suffering in trials are made strong and cheerful. You bring honor to   
   those who believe, you teach those who preach, you give strength to   
   the toiler, you sustain the weary” (St. Bernardine of Siena).   
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Admirably saith St. Irenæus, “To follow the Saviour is to partake of   
   salvation: to follow, the light is to partake of light, now they who   
   are in the light do not themselves illuminate the light, but are   
   enlightened by it.”   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Act of Reparation for Blasphemies Uttered   
   Against the Holy Name   
      
   The Sign which the angel gave the shepherds to help them find the   
   new-born Savior, points to His lowliness: "This shall be a sign to   
   you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in   
   a manger." No other new-born baby who was wrapped in poor swaddling   
   clothes and lying in a manger, a feeding trough for animals, could be   
   found anywhere else but in a stable. Thus in lowliness the King of   
   heaven, the Son of God, chose to be born, because he came to destroy   
   the pride that had been the cause of man's ruin.   
      
   The prophets had already foretold that our Redeemer was to be treated   
   as the vilest of men on earth and that He was to be overwhelmed with   
   insults. How much contempt had not Jesus indeed to suffer from men! He   
   was called a drunkard, a trickster, a blasphemer and a heretic. What   
   ignominies He endured in His Passion! His own disciples abandoned Him;   
   one of them sold Him for thirty pieces of silver, and another denied   
   having ever known Him. He was led in bonds through the streets like a   
   criminal; He was scourged like a slave, ridiculed as a fool, crowned   
   with thorns as a mock king, buffetted and spit upon, and finally left   
   to die, hanging on a cross between two thieves, as the worst criminal   
   in the world. "The noblest of all," says Saint Bernard, "is treated as   
   the vilest of all." But the Saint adds, "The viler Thou art treated,   
   the dearer Thou art to me." The more I see Thee, my Jesus, despised   
   and put to shame, the more dear and worthy of my love dost Thou become   
   to me.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)