From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   God can be your shield   
      
      God can be your shield. Then no problems of the world can harm you.   
   Between you and all scorn and indignity from others is your trust in   
   God, like a shining shield. Nothing can then have the power to spoil   
   your inward peace. With this shield, you can attain this inward peace   
   quickly, in your surroundings as well as in your heart. With this   
   inward peace, you do not need to resent the person who troubles you.   
   Instead, you can overcome the resentment in your own mind, which may   
   have been aroused by that person.   
      I pray that I may strive for inward peace. I pray that I may not be   
   seriously upset, no matter what happens around me.   
   --From Twenty-Four Hours a Day   
      
   ==============   
   December 17th – Saint Lazarus of Bethany   
      
      At Marseilles in France, blessed Lazarus, brother of the Saints   
   Mary Magdalene and Martha, of whom we read in the Gospel that our Lord   
   called him his friend and raised him from the dead.   
   Lazarus, the friend of Jesus, the brother of Martha and Mary, was the   
   one of whom the Jews said, "See how much he loved him." In their sight   
   Jesus raised his friend Lazarus from the dead.   
      
   Legends abound about the life of Lazarus after the death and   
   resurrection of Jesus. He is supposed to have left a written account   
   of what he saw in the next world before he was called back to life.   
   Some say he followed Peter into Syria. Another story is that despite   
   being put into a leaking boat by the Jews at Jaffa, he, his sisters   
   and others landed safely in Cyprus. There he died peacefully after   
   serving as bishop for 30 years.   
      
   A church was built in his honor in Constantinople and some of his   
   reputed relics were transferred there in 890. A Western legend has the   
   oarless boat arriving in Gaul. There he was bishop of Marseilles, was   
   martyred after making a number of converts and was buried in a cave.   
   His relics were transferred to the new cathedral in Autun in 1146.   
      
   It is certain there was early devotion to the saint. Around the year   
   390, the pilgrim lady Etheria talks of the procession that took place   
   on the Saturday before Palm Sunday at the tomb where Lazarus had been   
   raised from the dead. In the West, Passion Sunday was called Dominica   
   de Lazaro, and Augustine tells us that in Africa the Gospel of the   
   raising of Lazarus was read at the office of Palm Sunday.   
      
   Comment: Many people who had a near-death experience report losing all   
   fear of death. When Lazarus died a second time, perhaps he was without   
   fear. He must have been sure that Jesus, the friend with whom he had   
   shared many meals and conversations, would be waiting to raise him   
   again. We don’t share Lazarus’ firsthand knowledge of returning from   
   the grave. Nevertheless, we too have shared meals and conversations   
   with Jesus, who waits to raise us, too.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Our Lord's words teach us that though we labour among the many   
   distractions of this world, we should have but one goal. For we are   
   but travellers on a journey without as yet a fixed abode; we are on   
   our way, not yet in our native land; we are in a state of longing, not   
   yet of enjoyment. Do you wish to know what we will have there? The   
   Lord himself tells us when he says of his servants, Amen, I say to   
   you, he will make them recline and passing he will serve them.   
   -- St. Augustine   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   Fulfil ye my joy, that you be of one mind, having the same charity,   
   being of one accord, agreeing in sentiment.  Let nothing be done   
   through contention: neither by vainglory. But in humility, let each   
   esteem others better than themselves: Each one not considering the   
   things that are his own, but those that are other men's.   
   [Philippians 2:2-4] DRB   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Hymn: The Cross of Christ   
      
   Gal. vi. 14:--"God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of   
   our Lord Jesus Christ." "When we rise, the cross; when we lie down,   
   the cross; in our studies, the cross; everywhere and at every time,   
   the cross--shining more glorious than the sun."   
   --St. Chrysostom.   
      
   O Child of God, remember,   
   When thou to Christ wast born,   
   How then across thine infant breast   
   His sacred sign was drawn.   
      
   And when confirming Chrism   
   Upon thy brow was laid,   
   How in that sign the Holy Ghost   
   His grace upon thee shed.   
      
   Therefore, when sleep invites thee   
   To take thy needful rest,   
   Be sure that with the sacred cross   
   Thou sign thy brow and breast.   
      
   The cross hath wondrous virtue   
   All evil to control;   
   To scatter darkness, and to calm   
   The tempest of the soul.   
      
   What though in sleep this body   
   May helpless seem to lie?   
   I nothing fear, assured that   
   One Stronger than all is nigh.   
      
   On Him my heart shall ponder,   
   E'en while my rest I take;   
   My shield and shelter while I sleep.   
   My joy when I awake.   
      
   Music: Crux Fidelis, O Crux Ave and O Sacred Head Surrounded   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)