From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   -- 2 Peter 1:5-9 --   
      
   For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness;   
   and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to   
   self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to   
   godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if   
   you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you   
   from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord   
   Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and   
   blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.   
   ========================   
   Faith must be more than belief in certain facts; it must result in   
   action, growth in Christian character and the practice of moral   
   discipline, or it will die away. Peter lists several faith actions:   
   learning to know God better, developing perseverance, doing God's   
   will, loving others. These actions do not come automatically -- they   
   require hard work. They are not optional; all of them must be a   
   continual part of the Christian life. We don't finish one and start on   
   the next, but we work on them all together. God empowers and enables   
   us, but he also gives us the responsibility to learn and grow. We   
   should not be surprised at or resentful of the process.   
      
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   August 6th - The Transfiguration of Our Lord   
   (32AD)   
      
   Our divine Redeemer, being in Galilee the summer before His sacred   
   Passion, took with Him Saint Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, Saint   
   James and Saint John, and led them to the heights of a solitary   
   mountain. Tradition assures us that this was Mount Tabor, which is   
   exceedingly high and beautiful, and in those days was covered with   
   green trees and shrubs. It rises alone in the midst of a vast plain of   
   Galilee.   
      
   It is here that the God-Man appeared in His glory. While Jesus prayed,   
   He permitted the glory which was always due to His sacred humanity --   
   and of which for our sake, not to alarm us, He deprived it -- to   
   diffuse its brilliance over His whole body. His face was transfigured   
   and shone as the sun, and His garments became white as snow. Moses and   
   Elias were seen in His company by the three apostles on this occasion,   
   and were heard discoursing with Him of the death which He was to   
   suffer in Jerusalem. The three were wondrously delighted with this   
   glorious vision, and Saint Peter cried out to Christ, “Lord, it is   
   good for us to be here! Let us make three tents, one for Thee, one for   
   Moses, and one for Elias.”   
      
   While Saint Peter was speaking, suddenly there came a bright cloud   
   from heaven, emblem of the presence of God’s majesty, and from out of   
   this cloud was heard a voice which said, “This is My beloved Son, in   
   whom I am well pleased; hear Him.” By these words, God made known that   
   in Christ they must recognize the One He had foretold to Moses,   
   saying: “I will raise up from among them a Prophet like you; I will   
   put My words in His mouth, and He will tell them all I command Him. If   
   anyone does not want to hear the words that this Prophet will speak in   
   My Name, it is to Me that he will have to answer for it.” (Deut.   
   18:18-19) When the Jews asked John the Baptist if he was the Prophet,   
   this was the Expected One they referred to. The apostles understood   
   perfectly now what these words meant; the prophecy was known to all   
   who listened to the Scriptures read each week in their synagogues.   
   Hearing this voice, they were nonetheless seized with a sudden fear,   
   and fell upon the ground; but Jesus, going to them, touched them, and   
   bade them rise. They immediately did so, and saw no one but Jesus   
   standing there in His ordinary state. This vision happened during the   
   night. As they went down the mountain early the next morning, Jesus   
   forbade them to tell anyone what they had seen, before He had risen   
   from the dead.   
      
   Reflection: From the contemplation of this glorious mystery we ought   
   to conceive a true idea of future happiness. If this idea enters our   
   souls, we will think nothing of the difficulties or labors we meet   
   with here, but will regard with great indifference all the goods and   
   evils of this life, provided we obtain our portion in the kingdom of   
   God’s glory.   
      
   Source: Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a compilation based on   
   Butler’s Lives of the Saints and other sources by John Gilmary Shea   
   (Benziger Brothers: New York, 1894).   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Humility is the mother of many virtues.  From it spring obedience,   
   holy fear, reverence, patience, modesty, mildness, and peace; for,   
   whoever is humble easily obeys all, fears to offend any, maintains   
   peace with all, shows himself affable to all, is submissive to all,   
   does not offend or displease any, and does not feel the insults which   
   may be inflicted upon him.  He lives happy and contented, and in great   
   peace.  --St. Thomas of Villanova   
      
   Bible Quote   
   And when you fast, be not as the hypocrites, sad. For they disfigure   
   their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Amen I say to you,   
   they have received their reward. 17. But thou, when thou fastest   
   anoint thy head, and wash thy face; 18. That thou appear not to men to   
   fast, but to thy Father who is in secret: and thy Father who seeth in   
   secret, will repay thee.  (Matthew 6:16-18)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   I Love You, O My God   
   By St John Marie Baptiste Vianney (1786-1859)   
      
   I love You,   
   O my God   
   and my only desire is to love You   
   until the last breath of my life.   
   I love You,   
   O my infinitely lovable God   
   and I would rather die loving You,   
   than live without loving You.   
   I love You, Lord   
   and the only grace I ask,   
   is to love You eternally   
   My God,   
   if my tongue cannot say   
   in every moment that I love You,   
   I want my heart to repeat it to You   
   as often as I draw breath.   
   Amen   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)