Praise Him Even More
I don't recall ever being asked to explain the importance of
breathing. It's pretty well accepted that breathing is a good idea and
we should do it many times every day - a lack of breathing is
definitely bad for our physical health. It's not an exaggeration to
say that praise is as important, should become as natural and occur as
often, as our breathing. For if we choose not to live a life of
praise, we will just as surely suffocate and spiritually die.
The life of praise requires only a little instruction and a great deal
of application. To begin with, we must learn to ALWAYS praise!
Philippians 4:4
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!"
Notice that rejoicing is so important that Paul decided to repeat
himself. If we are living to love and glorify God, He has promised to
work ALL things together for the good (Romans 8:28); so why do we wait
for what appear to be the proper conditions for praise? If we really
understood and believed that God is in control, wouldn't we praise Him
regardless of our particular situation? "Be joyful always; pray
continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will
for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). There is never a
wrong time to praise God and there are never circumstances which don't
deserve our thankfulness.
Job lost absolutely everything he had except his wife. He then
developed sores over every part of his body and was so miserable that
his wife encouraged him to "Curse God and die!" (Job 2:10). Job was in
great pain and heavy sorrow, but he knew all things came from God with
a purpose; "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" (Job
2:10). God is in the good as well as the trouble; we must learn to
praise Him in ALL situations!
Our life can become difficult and painful; we may feel bored and
unfulfilled, cheated and abused. But if we look at the reasons which
keep us from praising, we will find "self" expectations and pride - we
will find a life lived according to the desires of the flesh and not
according to the fruit of the Spirit. Every portion of our life is to
be offered "as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God" (Romans
12:1). As we fix our eyes on the eternal glory we have through Jesus
we will find more and more reasons to praise.
Let's never allow our earthly circumstances to direct our praise: "Let
everything that has breath praise the Lord" (Psalm 150:6). If we're
still breathing, we should still be praising! He has given us eternal
life - an eternity of worship in His presence...that's a GREAT
gift! Let's look for the hand of God working around us each and every
day. Let's praise Him with all our heart - and then let's praise Him
even more!
Have a Great Day!
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November 23rd - St. Columban
Columban was born around 540AD. According to his earliest biographer, the
monk
Jonas, Columban's home was in the Province of Leinster, on the south east
side
of Ireland. The name Columban is a Latin one that means dove, and he is
often
depicted with a dove, and with a dazzling sun. Jonas records the story
that
before his birth Columban's mother dreamt she saw a great dazzling sun
shine out
from her to fill the world
Against his mother's wishes as a young man Columban turned his steps
northward
to Fermanagh and magnificent Lough Erne. There he entered a monastery on
Cleenish island founded only a few years before by Sinell, who according
to
Jonas was famous for his holiness and for his learning in sacred things.
Cleenish nestles in Upper Lough Erne. It's Irish name Cluain Inis means
Meadow
island, a name which reflects the nature of the island even today, where
its 100
acres house numerous inlets and a profusion of needs, home to abundant
wildlife.
Cleenish, flanked by rolling hills and surrounded by distant mountains,
was the
setting where Columban studied sacred scripture, and Latin. The young
student
impressed Sinell. Once he decided to become a monk he went to Bangor
monastery
on Belfast Louth. The Abbot, St. Comgall, was the outstanding "Father of
Monks"
in Ireland renowned for his insistence on study and discipline. Here
Columban
gave himself up to prayer and fasting.
Abbot Comgall's rule at Bangor was strict. Bread, water and vegetables
made up
the daily ration. The monks wore long white tunics and an outer woolen
garment
with a hood, and sandals. They lived in huts of wood. Work, fasting,
silence,
prolonged periods of prayer, mortifications-these were the daily routine.
After a time Columban felt called to go into exile as a wanderer for
Christ, in
the spirit of Abraham: Go forth from your country and from your kindred
and come
into the land which I will show you. Comgall eventually allowed Columban
and
twelve others to set off from Bangor and sail away in a little boat into
the
unknown.
After an uneventful crossing they landed in Brittany. They stayed there
long
enough for others from Brittany to join them, and eventually they headed
into
Gaul. They found that religious practice had collapsed, so they began to
preach
everywhere. Their zeal, the humble lifestyle, and their love of the Lord,
brought many back to God. Whatever home he stayed in Columban drew the
family
into the service of God.
Columban's zealous spirit characterized the little group of monks.
Although
their rule was strict, charity became their hallmark.
News of Columban and his companions reached king Sigebert. He begged them
to
stay in his kingdom, so they found a place in mountainous forests of the
Vosges,
and settled at an old, dilapidated Roman fort at Annegray. It was a
desolate
place overrun with brushwood. They cleared part of the forest, using the
timber
to construct their cells. At first all they had to live on were herbs,
roots and
the barks of trees. So began their life in the simplest of monasteries.
Soon
their fame spread and crowds came to visit them.
Numbers grew, so Columban looked for another suitable place for a
monastery. He
found Luxeuil, just eight miles west, on the Breuchin river. Formerly a
Roman
fort with thermal springs, it had become a place where wolves and bears
roamed
at will. Here a monastery was established around 590AD. Work, study, and
prayer,
the unceasing toil of Columban and the other, began to bear fruit. Sons of
the
nobility came from all sides and Luxeuil soon became known as the greatest
school in Europe. Some abandoned the highest places in the land to become
monks
in its cloister. Over a span of 20 years it produced no less than 21
recognized
saints. Luxeuil became the model of many new monastic foundations.
Montalembert wrote: Columban's greatness consists not so much in the
establishment of any permanent organization as in the fact that he
enkindled a
new spirit in monasticism in Europe, and in time this became the guiding
influence in European civilization.
An old bear cave, according to tradition Columban used to pray in
solitude. It
lies, even today, in remote woods above the Breuchin valley. A nearby
spring is
known as Columban's holy well. Wherever he went Columban sought out a cave
where
he could pray alone. Prayer was at the heart of his ministry.
The private Penitential introduced on the continent from Ireland by
Columban
proved one of the major contributions of the era to the renewal of the
laity.
Columban made the Irish system of private penance available to laity
wherever be
went. The Penitential consisted of a list of sins, together with an
appropriate
penance. Although the penances appear harsh today, they were lenient in
comparison to the severe public excommunications which prevailed at the
time. So
the laity had the chance to return to a practice of the faith hitherto
denied
them. "If any layman steals an ox or a horse or a sheep from his
neighbour, he
must first restore it to his neighbour and then do penance on bread and
water
for 120 days."
Columban denounced King Theodoric and openly reproached the nobles for
their
immoral ways.
The court finally banished him, along with the other monks from Ireland.
They
were taken to the prison at Besancon. Finally they began their journey of
exile
down the River Loire to the port at Nantes. At every place they stopped
crowds
flocked to greet them. Columban was heartbroken to leave the monasteries
where
he had laboured as abbot for twenty years.
At Orleans they had to sleep by the river, and beg for food. At Tours
Columban
spent the night in vigil.
At Nantes they were put on board a vessel that was to sail to Ireland, but
a
storm broke out, and the captain was afraid to sail with Columban on
board.
As the soldiers had returned to Burgundy, they were free. Columban decided
to
head down the river Mosel into modern day Germany and up the Rhine to
Switzerland and Austria. St. Gall, one of his companions from Ireland,
remained
in Switzerland. He is now the country's patron saint. Columban pushed on
over
the Alps into Italy. When Columban had seen that Theuderic had defeated
Theudebert he decided to head into Italy.
He remained some time in Milan where he attacked at Arians and wrote a
short
learned work against them. The king of the Lombards granted Columban
permission
to build a monastery, so he came to Bobbio, in the Apennine Mountains
where the
Bobbio and Trebbia rivers meet, and where there was an abundance of fish.
Here,
after three years of wandering, he built his final foundation. He died on
the
23rd November in 615AD. According to tradition he died in one of the two
caves
where he was accustomed to retire for prayer.
The great abbey of Bobbio lasted down to the French Revolution. Its
library, now
shared between the Vatican and others, was one of the most valuable in
Europe.
Saint Quote:
My Lord and my God, take from me everything that distances me from you. My
Lord
and my God, give me everything that brings me closer to you. My Lord and
my God,
detach me from myself to give my all to you.
-St. Nicholas of Flüe
Bible Quote:
4 And eating together with them, he commanded them, that they should not
depart
from Jerusalem, but should wait for the promise of the Father, which you
have
heard (saith he) by my mouth. 5 For John indeed baptized with water, but
you
shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence. (Acts 1:4-5)
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Prayer for Help
Lord Jesus, You see my extreme poverty and destitution, You see my frail
nature surrounded with so many crafty, powerful enemies, both exterior and
interior placed amid many perils and countless evils both temporal and
spiritual, from which only You, in Your great mercy, can rescue me. For
this
reason, I call upon You, for You know that we cannot obtain the least
thing
that is good, either for body or soul, except from You, the Father of
mercy
and of consolation, the source and giver of all good gifts. You know that
we
cannot rid ourselves of the least thing that is evil, unless You in Your
clemency put it far from us.
Filled with hope and confidence in Your sweet Heart, I cry to the Eternal
Father: Behold O Father, I have within my heart the sweet Heart of Your
dear
Son; I offer to You this Heart not that it may accuse me, but plead for
me,
not cry for vengeance, but for pardon. What can You refuse to this Heart?
Nothing assuredly, either to Him or to me, when I ask for His sake.
Deliver
me, therefore I pray from all my foes and the ills of this life. Help me
in
my necessities. Grant me grace to end my life by a holy and happy death. -
Amen.
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Canticle Isaiah 2
The mountain of the house of the Lord
In the last days, at the end of time,
the mountain of the house of the Lord
will be prepared high above all mountains.
It will be raised above the hills
and all nations will come to it.
And many peoples will come there and say
"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob.
Let him teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths".
For from Sion the law will go forth,
from Jerusalem the word of the Lord.
And he will judge the nations
and rebuke many peoples.
They will beat their swords into ploughshares
and their spears into sickles.
Nation will lift sword against nation no longer.
No longer will they go out into battle.
People of Jacob, come:
let us walk in the light of the Lord.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
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