From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   God is pleased to dwell in us   
      
      "God is not too grand to come, he is not too fussy or shy, he is   
   not too proud - on the contrary he is pleased to come if you do not   
   displease him. Listen to the promise he makes. Listen to him indeed   
   promising with pleasure, not threatening in displeasure, "We shall   
   come to him," he says, "I and the Father." To the one he had earlier   
   called his friend, the one who obeys his precepts, the keeper of his   
   commandment, the lover of God, the lover of his neighbor, he says, "We   
   shall come to him and make our abode with him."   
   --St. Augustine--(excerpt from Sermon 23,6)   
      
   Prayer   
   "Lord Jesus, in love you created me and you drew me to yourself. May I   
   never lose sight of you nor forget your steadfast love and   
   faithfulness. And may I daily dwell upon your word and give you praise   
   in the sanctuary of my heart, You who are my All."   
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   May 24th - Bl. John of Prado, Martyr   
   d. 1613   
      
   AMONGST the heroes of the Friars Minor of the Observance, great honour   
   is paid to Bl. John of Prado, who won the crown of martyrdom in   
   Morocco in the 17th century even as the Franciscan pioneers, Bl.   
   Berard and his companions, had won it there in the 13th. He was born   
   of a noble Spanish family at Morgobejo in Leon, and, after being   
   educated at Salamanca University, received the habit as a Franciscan   
   in the year 1584. From the day of his ordination to the priesthood he   
   desired to go as a missionary to the pagans, but his aspirations could   
   not be realized for some time. His superiors set him to preach in his   
   own country and he also filled the offices of novice-master and   
   guardian in several convents. Though one of the holiest and humblest   
   of men he became the victim of cruel calumny, and his provincial   
   removed him from his post of superior. He accepted the disgrace with   
   resignation. “God wills that I should suffer,” he said. “May His will   
   be done. The only thing that grieves me is the discredit it may bring   
   upon our order and the scandal it may cause to the weak.” His   
   innocence was, however, afterwards completely vindicated and in 1610   
   he was made minister of the newly formed province of San Diego.   
      
   Three years later a widespread epidemic of plague carried off all the   
   Franciscans who were labouring in the Moroccan mission. Bl. John’s   
   term of office had just expired and he begged to be sent to the relief   
   of the Christians. Pope Urban VIII accordingly named him missionary   
   apostolic with special powers. Accompanied by Father Matthias and   
   Brother Genesius, he arrived in Morocco and immediately embarked upon   
   the work of ministering to the Christian slaves. Though ordered to   
   leave they continued their labours, administering the sacraments to   
   the faithful and reconciling those who had apostatized. They were   
   consequently arrested in Marakesh, cast into prison, and set to grind   
   saltpetre for gunpowder. After a while they were brought into the   
   sultan’s presence, but when they still boldly explained Christianity,   
   they were scourged and ordered back to their dungeon. On the occasion   
   of a 2nd public examination, Bl. John ignored the sultan and addressed   
   himself to some apostates who were standing by. Whereupon Muley   
   al-Walid struck the old man to the ground, and he was pierced by two   
   arrows. He was taken away to be burned alive; as the flames mounted he   
   urged his tormentors to follow Christ, till one of them crushed his   
   head with a stone. Bl. John of Prado was beatified in 1728, and he is   
   one of the few beati named in the Roman Martyrology.   
      
   See P. P. Ausserer, Seraphisches Martyrologium (1880); Léon, Auréole   
   Séraphique Eng. trans.), vol. ii, pp. 292-296 F. Fernandez y Romeral,   
   Los Franciscanos en Marruecos (1921) and H. Koehler, L’Eglise   
   chrétienne du Maroc...(1934), pp. 65-83.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Anger is tamed and becomes transformed into benevolence only through   
   courage and mercy.   
   --St. Gregory of Sinai.   
      
   Bible Quote   
    1 Corinthians 15:50, 52b-55 Paul writes:   
    50 I tell you this, brethren: flesh and blood cannot inherit the   
   kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.   
   [...].   
   For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable,   
   and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable nature must put on the   
   imperishable, and this mortal nature must put on immortality. 54 When   
   the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on   
   immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:   
   “Death is swallowed up in victory.”   
   55 “O death, where is thy victory?   
   O death, where is thy sting?”   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   A Prayer for a Pure Heart and Heavenly Wisdom   
      
       Strengthen me, O Lord God, by the grace of Your Holy Spirit.(Ps.   
   51:12) Grant me inward power and strength (Eph. 3:16) and empty my   
   heart of all profitless anxiety and care.(Matt. 5:34) Let me never be   
   drawn away from You by desire for anything else, whether noble or   
   base, but help me to realize that all things are passing, and myself   
   with them. Nothing in this world is lasting, and everything in this   
   life is uncertain, troubling to the spirit (Eccles. 1:14; 2:11) How   
   wise is the man who knows these truths! Grant me heavenly wisdom, O   
   Lord, that above all else I may learn to search for and discover You;   
   to know and love You; and to see all things as they really are and as   
   You in Your wisdom have ordered them. May I prudently avoid those who   
   flatter me, and deal patiently with those who oppose me. True wisdom   
   cannot be swayed by every wordy argument, (Eph. 4:14) and pays no   
   regard to the cunning flatteries of evil men. Only thus shall we go   
   forward steadily on the road on which we have set out.   
   --Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Bk 3, Ch 27   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)