From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   — Psalm 119:44-48 —   
      
   I will always obey your law,   
   for ever and ever.   
   I will walk about in freedom,   
   for I have sought out your precepts.   
   I will speak of your statutes before kings   
   and will not be put to shame,   
   for I delight in your commands   
   because I love them.   
   I reach out for your commands, which I love,   
   that I may meditate on your decrees.   
   ========================   
   The psalmist talks about keeping the laws and yet being free. Contrary   
   to what we often expect, obeying God's laws does not inhibit or   
   restrain us. Instead it frees us to be what God designed us to be. By   
   seeking God's salvation and forgiveness, we have freedom from sin and   
   the resulting oppressive guilt. By living God's way, we have freedom   
   to fulfill God's plan for our lives.   
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   May 4th - Bl. Catherine of Parc-aux-Dames, Virgin   
   (13th v. became famous for her visions and miracles)   
      
   BL. CATHERINE of Parc-aux-Dames was the daughter of Jewish parents,   
   resident in the city of Louvain. Amongst the constant visitors to   
   their house was the duke of Brabant’s chaplain, Master Rayner, with   
   whom his host used to have long discussions on religious subjects.   
   From the time she was five years old, little Rachel--as she was then   
   called--was an attentive listener to these talks and one day the   
   priest, noticing her eager expression, said to her, “Rachel, would you   
   like to become a Christian?” “Yes--if you would tell me how!” was the   
   prompt reply.   
      
   From that time Master Rayner began to give her instruction in the   
   faith as occasion offered. Rachel’s parents, however, became uneasy at   
   the change which was taking place in their child, and when she was in   
   her seventh year decided to send her away beyond the Rhine, to remove   
   her from Christian influences. Rachel was greatly distressed at the   
   prospect, but one night she had a vision of our Lady, who gave her a   
   staff and bade her escape. The girl arose at once, slipped out of the   
   house and made her way to the priest, by whom she was taken to the   
   Cistercian nuns in the abbey of Parc-aux-Dames, a mile and a half from   
   Louvain. There she was baptized and clothed with the habit of the   
   order, assuming the name of Catherine. Her parents appealed to the   
   bishop of Louvain, to the duke of Brabant and even to Pope Honorius,   
   that their daughter might be restored to them--at any rate till she   
   was 12 years old. The bishop and the duke favoured the claim, but it   
   was successfully opposed by Engelbert, archbishop of Cologne, and   
   William, abbot of Clairvaux. Catherine accordingly remained at   
   Parc-aux-Dames until her death, and became famous for her visions and   
   miracles.   
      
   See the account in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. i, which is mainly   
   compiled from such Cistercian sources as Caesarius of Heisterbach and   
   Henriquez. But the Dominican Thomas de Cantimprd also vouches for the   
   truth of the story, from his personal knowledge of Catherine.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Learn from Saint Thérèse to depend on God alone and serve Him with a   
   wholly pure and detached heart. Then, like her, you will be able to   
   say ‘I do not regret that I have given myself up to Love’.   
   -- Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   Be not therefore solicitous for to morrow; for the morrow will be   
   solicitous for itself. Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof.   
   [Mt. 6:34] DRB   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit   
      
   What is the unforgivable sin which Jesus warns us to avoid? Jesus   
   knows that his disciples will be tested and he assures them that the   
   Holy Spirit will give them whatever grace and help they need in their   
   time of adversity. He warns them, however, that it's possible to spurn   
   the grace of God and to fall into apostasy (giving up the faith) out   
   of cowardice or disbelief. Why is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit   
   reprehensible? Blasphemy consists in uttering against God, inwardly or   
   outwardly, words of hatred, reproach, or defiance. It's contrary to   
   the respect due God and his holy name. Jesus speaks of blaspheming   
   against the Holy Spirit as the unforgivable sin.   
   Jesus spoke about this sin immediately after the scribes and Pharisees   
   had attributed his miracles to the work of the devil instead of to   
   God. A sin can only be unforgivable if repentance is impossible. If   
   people repeatedly closes their eyes to God, shuts their ears to his   
   voice, and reject his word, they bring themselves to a point where   
   they can no longer recognize God when he can be seen and heard. They   
   become spiritually blind-sighted and speak of "evil as good and good   
   as evil" (Isaiah 5:20).   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)