From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Faith must be nourished with the Word of God   
      
       Faith is both a free gift of God and the free assent of our will   
   to the whole truth that God has revealed. To live, grow, and persevere   
   in the faith to the end, we must nourish it with the word of God. The   
   Lord gives us his Holy Spirit to enlighten our minds that we may grow   
   in his truth and in the knowledge of his great love for each of us. If   
   we approach God's word with trust and submission, and with an   
   eagerness to do what the Lord desires for us, then we are in a much   
   better position to learn what God wants to teach us through his word.   
   Are you eager to be taught by the Lord and to conform your mind,   
   heart, attitude, and intentions according to his word of truth,   
   goodness, and love?   
       "Lord Jesus, your word is power and life. May I never doubt your   
   love and mercy, and the power of your word that sets us free, and   
   brings healing and restoration to body, mind, heart, and spirit."   
      
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   11 November – St John the Almoner   
   also known as John the Almsgiver, John the Merciful, John V of   
   Alexandria, John Eleymon and Johannes Eleemon.   
      
   Memorial   
   11 November   
   23 January on some calendars   
   15 January on some calendars   
      
   Born in c 550 at Amathus, Cyprus and died there in c 616 of natural   
   causes.  He was the Chalcedonian Patriarch of Alexandria in the early   
   7th century (from 606 to 616). He is the patron saint of the Knights   
   Hospitaller, Casarano, Italy and of Limassol, Cyprus.   
      
   St John was born at Amathus as the son of Epiphanius, governor of   
   Cyprus and was of noble descent. In early life he was married and had   
   children but when his wife and children died, he entered religious   
   life, he was around 40-50 at this time.   
      
   On the death of the Patriarch Theodore, the Alexandrians requested   
   Emperor Phocas to appoint John his successor, which was accordingly   
   done. One of the first steps he took was to make a list of several   
   thousand needy persons, whom he took under his especial care. He   
   always referred to the poor as his “masters”, because of their mighty   
   influence at the Court of the Most High. He assisted people of every   
   class who were in need. On Wednesday and Friday in every week, he sat   
   on a bench before the church, to hear the complaints of the needy and   
   aggrieved.   
      
   He was a reformer who attacked simony and fought heresy by means of   
   improvements in religious education. He also reorganised the system of   
   weights and measures for the sake of the poor and put a stop to   
   corruption among the officials. He increased the number of churches in   
   Alexandria from seven to seventy.   
      
   The work of St Vitalis of Gaza (died c 625), a monk who worked among   
   the prostitutes of the city, was a noteworthy episode of John’s reign.   
   The Patriarch was considered to have behaved with wisdom for not   
   punishing this monk who was notorious for visiting the unsavoury and   
   dangerous areas of the city and his judgement was vindicated, only   
   after the death of St Vitalis, when the story of the monk’s mission of   
   mercy became known.   
      
   St John visited the hospitals three times every week and he freed a   
   great many slaves. John is said to have devoted the entire revenues of   
   his see to the alleviation of those in need. A rich man presented him   
   with a magnificent bed covering; he accepted it for one nigh, but then   
   sold it and disposed of the money in alms. The rich man bought the   
   article and again presented it to John, with the same result. This was   
   repeated several times but John drily remarked: “We will see who tires   
   first.”   
      
   When the Sassanachs sacked Jerusalem in 614, John sent large supplies   
   of food, wine and money to the fleeing Christians. But eventually the   
   Persians occupied Alexandria and John himself, in his old age, was   
   forced to flee to his native country, where he died in c 616.   
      
   From Cyprus his body was moved to Constantinople, then in 1249 to   
   Venice, where there is a church dedicated to him, the Chiesa di San   
   Giovanni Elemosinario, although his relics are preserved in another   
   church, San Giovanni in Bragora, in a separate chapel. Another relic   
   was sent to King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary. It was placed in the   
   private Royal Chapel in Buda Castle, which was dedicated to him. In   
   our time, his body lies in the St John the Merciful Chapel in St   
      
   A church in Cospicua, Malta, is dedicated to him and one of the   
   bastions of the Santa Margherita Lines in the same city is also named   
   after him.   
      
   From Anastpaul 2018   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   If only mortals would learn how great it is to possess divine grace,   
   how beautiful, how noble, how precious. How many riches it hides   
   within itself, how many joys and delights! No one would complain about   
   his cross or about troubles that may happen to him, if he would come   
   to know the scales on which they are weighed when they are distributed   
   to men.   
   --Saint Rose of Lima   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   And the publican, standing afar off, would not so much as lift up his   
   eyes towards heaven; but struck his breast, saying: O God, be merciful   
   to me a sinner.  (Luke 18:13) DRB   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   God irradiates your life:   
      
      God irradiates your life with the warmth of His spirit. You must   
   open up like a flower to this divine irradiation. Loosen your hold on   
   earth, its cares, and its worries. Unclasp your hold on material   
   things, relax your grip, and the tide of peace and serenity will flow   
   in. Relinquish every material thing and receive it back again from   
   God. Do not hold on to earth's treasures so firmly that your hands are   
   too occupied to clasp God's hands as He holds them out to you in love.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)