From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   The 'new temple' of God's presence in the world   
      
   Jesus is the new temple (John 1:14; 2:19-22). In the Old Testament God   
   manifested his presence in the "pillar of cloud" by day and the   
   "pillar of fire" by night as he led them through the wilderness. God's   
   glory visibly came to dwell over the ark and the tabernacle (Exodus   
   40:34-38). When the first temple was built in Jerusalem God's glory   
   came to rest there (1 Kings 8). After the first temple was destroyed,   
   Ezekiel saw God's glory leave it (Ezekiel 10). But God promised one   
   day to fill it with even greater glory (Haggai 2:1-9; Zechariah 8-9).   
   That promise is fulfilled when the "King of Glory" himself comes to   
   his temple (Psalm 24:7-10; Malachi 3:1).  Through Jesus' coming in the   
   flesh and through his saving death, resurrection, and ascension we are   
   made living temples of his Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). Ask   
   the Lord to renew your faith in the indwelling presence of his Spirit   
   within you. And give him thanks and praise for coming to make his home   
   with you.   
      
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   January 14th - St. Macrina the Elder   
      
   This lady was the grandmother of saints, the most notable being the   
   brothers Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa. It was Macrina and her   
   husband who founded the faith of the family and passed it on as a   
   splendid treasure to her children and grandchildren. That faith was   
   born of suffering and persecution.   
      
   St. Macrina the elder was a native of Cappadocia, in what is now   
   eastern Turkey. It was here that the great apostle of Cappadocia, St.   
   Gregory the Wonderworker, established the faith around the year 250.   
   When he arrived in the territory, it was said, there were only   
   17 Christians in the town of Neo-Caesarea; when he died in 268,   
   there were only 17 pagans.   
      
   Macrina was born about the time of Gregory's death, and it was the   
   faith of this ardent apostle that became the way of life for her   
   family. Early in the next century, during the persecution of the   
   Emperor Galerius, Macrina and her husband were forced to leave their   
   home and to live in the wooded hills of Pontus for seven years, during   
   which they suffered much. They were often without food. Later, during   
   another persecution, their property was seized by agents of the   
   emperor, and they lived in almost total destitution. When the   
   persecution ended, they were honored as confessors of the faith, a   
   much revered title among the Christians of that time.   
      
   It was at his grandmother's knee that Basil received his first   
   instructions in the Christian faith, and it was from her that he and   
   his family were nourished in that Christian discipline that made them   
   saints. Macrina was known to have treasured and read the writings of   
   Gregory the Wonderworker, and it was the fire and zeal of his writings   
   that was passed on to Basil and his brother.   
      
   The exact date of Macrina's death is not known. She is revered as a   
   saint in the calendars of both the Eastern and Western Churches.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Our wish, our object, our chief preoccupation must be to form Jesus in   
   ourselves, to make his spirit, his devotion, his affections, his   
   desires, and his disposition live and reign there. All our religious   
   exercises should be directed to this end. It is the work which God has   
   given us to do unceasingly.   
   -- Saint John Eudes   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   But whereunto shall I esteem this generation to be like? It is like to   
   children sitting in the market place. Who crying to their companions   
   say: We have piped to you, and you have not danced: we have lamented,   
   and you have not mourned. For John came neither eating nor drinking;   
   and they say: He hath a devil. The Son of man came eating and   
   drinking, and they say: Behold a man that is a glutton and a wine   
   drinker, a friend of publicans and sinners. And wisdom is justified by   
   her children.  [Mt. 11:16-19]  DRB   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Consecration of the Sick to Mary   
      
       O kind and good Mother,   
       whose own soul was pierced by the sword of sorrow,   
       look upon us while,   
       in our sickness,   
       we arraign ourselves beside you   
       on the Calvary where your Jesus hangs.   
      
       Dowered with the high grace of suffering,   
       and hopeful of fulfilling in our own flesh   
       what is wanting in our sharing of Christ's passion,   
       on behalf of his Mystical Body, the Church,   
       we consecrate to you ourselves and our pain.   
       We pray that you will place them   
       on that Altar of the Cross to which Jesus is affixed.   
       May they be little victims of propitiation for our salvation,   
       for the salvation of all peoples.   
      
       O Mother of Sorrows,   
       accept this consecration.   
       Strengthen our hopeful hearts,   
       that as partakers of Christ's sufferings   
       we may also share in his comfort now and for evermore.   
       Amen.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)