From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Taming the Tongue   
      
   "What are we to do? Whoever says, 'You fool!' you shall be liable to   
   the hell of fire. But no human being can tame the tongue. Will   
   everyone therefore go to the hell of fire? By no means. Lord, you have   
   become our refuge from generation to generation (Psalm 90:1). Your   
   wrath is just. You send no one to hell unjustly. Where shall I go from   
   your spirit? or where shall I flee from your presence (Psalm 139:7),   
   unless to you? Thus let us understand, my dearly beloved, that if no   
   human being can tame the tongue, we must take refuge in God, who will   
   tame it. Does your own human nature prevent you from taming your   
   tongue? No human being can tame the tongue (James 3:8). Consider this   
   analogy from the animals that we tame. A horse does not tame itself; a   
   camel does not tame itself; an elephant does not tame itself; a snake   
   does not tame itself; a lion does not tame itself. So too a man does   
   not tame himself. In order to tame a horse, an ox, a camel, an   
   elephant, a lion and a snake, a human being is required. Therefore God   
   should be required in order for a human being to be tamed.   
   --St. Augustine--(excerpt from Sermon 55:2)   
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   OCT 10 – ST FRANCIS BORGIA, SJ    
   HUSBAND, FATHER, 4TH DUKE OF GANDIA, 3RD GENERAL OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS,   
   CONFESSOR    
      
    (1510-1572)   
   By all accounts, Francis Borgia was handsome.  Of course, he was rich.   
   He possessed all this life could offer:  family, rank, wealth, health,   
   preferments few could rival.  While true, he did consider religious   
   life, so many rich and splendid appointments in the court of Emperor   
   Charles V came his way, this was put aside.   
      
   A Spanish nobleman of remarkably high rank: grandson of a king (and a   
   Pope – don´t be scandalized; not every Pope was a saint) and cousin to   
   the Emperor Charles V.   
      
   He married well, had eight children, and bounced around royal society   
   taking various positions (viceroy, duke, protector, etc.) for the   
   first half of his life.   
      
   When his wife died (their youngest child was eight) it was a heavy   
   blow to him; it sorely tested his faith. As he escorted the funeral   
   bier to its tomb, it was necessary he identify the remains, as was   
   custom, as the person intended to be buried was actually his wife.   
   Not long after her death, but long enough for decomposition to begin,   
   Francis was taken aback by what he saw in the coffin and by how   
   quickly she had gone from life to what remained.  Shaken, disturbed,   
   he began to consider more seriously the eternal, and the brevity and   
   vanity of life.  He swore never again to serve a sovereign who could   
   be corrupted in body in such a way.   
      
   St Ignatius had recently founded the Jesuits, and Francis was deeply   
   attracted by their zeal and their particular mission of combining the   
   contemplative life and the active life.  He made a secret, private vow   
   to enter the order, and St Ignatius himself advised him to set all his   
   affairs in order (especially providing for his children) before making   
   the news public.   
      
   He did so, and eventually his desire was granted.  When he was forty   
   years old, he went to Rome and entered the Society of Jesus.  The   
   “duke turned Jesuit,” as he was called, learned humility and prayer   
   through the rigors of religious life, where his superiors made sure   
   that he spent plenty of time washing dishes and cleaning floors, to   
   purify him from any left-over arrogance or pride, but throughout the   
   years preceding his ordination he demonstrated exemplary virtue.   
      
   Once he was ordained a priest, he began preaching extensively, and was   
   put in charge of all the Jesuits in Portugal and Spain.  Soon   
   thereafter he was called back to Rome, where he became the most   
   popular preacher to the Pope and Cardinals, and was named General of   
   the Jesuit Order.   
      
   He put his vast experience of government and diplomacy (and his many   
   personal connections with European nobility) to work and gave much   
   needed structure and stability to the flourishing order, such that he   
   is often referred to as the “second founder” of the Jesuits.   
      
   His seven years of brilliant and energetic leadership included   
   starting Jesuit missions to the Americas, establishing the Roman   
   College (now known as the Gregorian University), building churches and   
   seminaries, and numorous other endeavors.  By the time he died, he was   
   already acclaimed as a saint from one end of Europe to the other.   
      
   In 1572, the Turks were once again threatening Christendom.  St Pius V   
   chose St Francis Borgia to accompany him on an embassy, due to his   
   political skills and connections, to assemble a league of princes for   
   defense.  The saint at once agreed, exhausted as he was from his   
   life’s labors, St Francis died two days after his return to Rome.   
      
   What was the secret of this paean of Christian virtue?  The more   
   renown and attention he received, the more self-effacing he became.   
   When one of his companions asked him why, he remarked that for six   
   years he had meditated on the life of Christ, and in those meditations   
   he always put himself at the feet of Judas.  Why?  Because St Francis   
   Borgia recognized the potential Judas in himself, and that kept him   
   humble.  We are all Judas.  We all deny him every day.  “I do not know   
   Him!” -Lk 22:57.  “Do you love Me?” -Jn 21:17   
      
   Lord, be my strength when I am tempted to deny You, when I am remiss   
   in speaking Your name lovingly to another, of telling them what You   
   mean to me.  Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner.   
      
   By Matthew   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   The trouble is that everyone talks about reforming others and no one   
   thinks about reforming himself.   
   --St. Peter of Alcantara   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   1 O sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things!   
   His right hand and his holy arm have gotten him victory.   
   2 The LORD has made known his victory, he has revealed   
   his vindication in the sight of the nations.   
   3 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to   
   the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the   
   victory of our God.   
   4 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth;   
   break forth into joyous song and sing praises!  [Psalm 98:1-4]   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Prayer to Invite the Blessed Virgin Mary   
   to be Present at our Death   
      
   Most Holy Virgin Mary, by the love and fidelity with which thy Divine   
   Son, when fastened to the Cross, confided thee to Saint John, I   
   confide to thee my soul, my body, my thoughts, words, actions and   
   life, especially the end thereof-that moment which will decide my fate   
   for eternity.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)