From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   On Humble Submission to God:   
      
   Do not be concerned overmuch who is with you or against you, but work   
   and plan that God may be with you in all that you do (Rom 8:31). Keep   
   a clean conscience, and God will mightily defend you; for whoever   
   enjoys the protection of God cannot be harmed by the malice of man. If   
   you learn to suffer in silence, you may be sure of receiving God's   
   help (2 Cor. 7:6). He knows the time and the way to deliver you; so   
   trust yourself entirely to His care. God is strong to help you, and to   
   free you from all confusion. It is often good for us that others know   
   and expose our faults, for so may we be kept humble.   
   --Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Bk 2, Ch 2   
      
   ==============   
       • 29 October – Blessed Chiara “Luce” Badano   
      
    Laywoman – born on 29 October 1971 in Sassello, Italy and died on 7   
   October 1990 (aged 18) at the place of her birth. At age nine she   
   joined the Focolare Movement and received the nickname “Luce” by the   
   founder Chiara Lubich. When she was 16 she was diagnosed with   
   osteogenic sarcoma, a painful bone cancer. Chiara succumbed to the   
   cancer on October 7, 1990, after a two-year battle with the disease.   
   She was Beatified on 25 September 2010 at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of   
   Divine Love in Rome. Patronages – Youth.   
      
   In 1971, after praying and hoping for a baby for more than 10 years,   
   Ruggero and Teresa Badano of the small village of Sassello, in Italy,   
   welcomed a little girl whom they named Chiara.   
      
   Even at the age of four, Chiara seemed aware of the needs of others.   
   She would sort through her toys to give some to poor children and she   
   would never give away just the old or broken ones. She invited   
   less-fortunate people into the family’s home for holidays and visited   
   the elderly at a retirement centre. When other children were sick and   
   confined to bed, Chiara visited them. She loved the stories of the   
   Gospel and loved to attend Mass.   
      
   When she was 9, Chiara became involved with the Focolare movement and   
   its branch for young people. The group focused on the image of the   
   forsaken Christ as the means to overcome difficult times. Chiara later   
   wrote that, “I discovered that Jesus, forsaken, is the key to unity   
   with God and I want to choose Him as my only spouse. I want to be   
   ready to welcome Him when He comes. To prefer Him above all else.”   
      
   While Chiara was a conscientious student, she struggled in school and   
   even failed her first year of high school. She was often teased in   
   school for her strong beliefs and was given the nickname “Sister” but   
   she was also very popular. She had a lot of friends, she played sports   
   and she loved to sing and dance. But when asked, she said she did not   
   try to bring Jesus to her friends with words. She tried to bring Jesus   
   to them with her example and how she lived her life.   
      
   During the summer of 1988, when she was 16 years old, Chiara had a   
   life-changing experience in Rome with the Focolare Movement. She wrote   
   to her parents, “This is a very important moment for me – it is an   
   encounter with Jesus Forsaken. It hasn’t been easy to embrace this   
   suffering but this morning Chiara Lubich explained to the children   
   that they have to be the spouse of Jesus Forsaken.” After this trip   
   she started to correspond regularly with Chiara Lubich. She then asked   
   for her new name as this was going to be the start of a new life for   
   her. Chiara Lubich gave her the name Chiara Luce. This was a kind of a   
   play on words since in Italian “Chiara” is a common girl’s name, taken   
   for example from the name of St Clare of Assisi but it is also an   
   everyday word meaning “clear.” “Luce” is occasionally found as a   
   girl’s name in Italy, though it is mostly secular rather than   
   religious and it, too, is also an everyday word meaning “light.” So   
   “Chiara Luce” means “clear light.” Lubich wrote to Chiara that “your   
   luminous face shows your love for Jesus,” which is why she gave her   
   the name Luce.   
      
   In this same summer of 1988, Chiara felt a sting of pain in her   
   shoulder while playing tennis. At first she thought nothing of it but   
   when the pain continued to be present, she underwent a series of   
   tests. The doctors then discovered she had a rare and painful form of   
   bone cancer, osteogenic sarcoma. In response, Chiara simply declared,   
   “It’s for you, Jesus; if you want it, I want it, too.”   
      
   Throughout the treatment process, Chiara refused to take any morphine   
   so she could stay aware. She felt it was important to know her illness   
   and pain so she could offer up her sufferings. She said, “It reduces   
   my lucidity and there’s only one thing I can do now: to offer my   
   suffering to Jesus because I want to share as much as possible in His   
   sufferings on the cross.” During her stays in the hospital, she would   
   take the time to go on walks with another patient who was struggling   
   with depression. These walks were beneficial to the other patient but   
   caused Chiara great pain. Her parents often encouraged her to stay and   
   rest but she would simply reply, “I’ll be able to sleep later on.”   
      
   During her final hours, Chiara made her final confession and received   
   the Eucharist. She had her family and friends pray with her, “Come   
   Holy Spirit.” Chiara Badano died at 4AM on 7 October 1990, The Feast   
   of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, with her parents at her bedside. Her   
   final words were, “Bye, Mum, be happy, because I am.” Two thousand   
   people attended her funeral; the mayor of Sassello shut down the town   
   so people would be able to attend.   
      
   Chiara’s cause for sainthood was promoted by the Most Reverend Livio   
   Maritano, the former Bishop of Acqui Terme, Italy, beginning in 1999.   
   It was through this process that she was declared a “Venerable” on 3   
   July 2008. In December 2009, Pope Benedict XVI acknowledged the   
   miracle of a young Italian boy whose parents interceded to Chiara to   
   heal him from meningitis that was destroying his organs. His doctors   
   could not medically explain his sudden healing. 25,000 people attended   
   her Beatification ceremony which was held at the Sanctuary of Our Lady   
   of Divine Love in Rome.   
      
   She was a normal, everyday girl and possibly a normal, everyday saint.   
   Chiara’s brief life showed us how much one person can accomplish in   
   God’s name.   
      
   https://anastpaul.com/2020/10/29/   
      
      
   “I discovered that Forsaken Jesus   
   is the key to unity with God   
   and I want to choose Him as my first Spouse   
   and be prepared for when He comes.”   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)