- Matthew 17:14-20 -
When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before
him.
"Lord, have mercy on my son," he said. "He has seizures and is suffering
greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to
your
disciples, but they could not heal him."
"O unbelieving and perverse generation," Jesus replied, "how long
shall I
stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to
me."
Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed
from that
moment.
Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, "Why couldn't
we
drive it out?"
He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth,
if you
have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move
from
here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
________________________________________________________________
Faith is a learned discipline. Faith does not come naturally but
supernaturally. The natural man believes when he sees, but the
supernatural man
sees when he believes. And Jesus taught that it does not take as much
faith to
see as we might think - faith as small as a tiny seed can see mountains
moved.
If you are lacking great faith today, exercise the faith you have and then
ask
God for more. Faith, fruit, more faith, more fruit - believing God is a
self-perpetuating experience.
"Faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservation"
- D. Elton Trueblood
<<>><<>><<>>
February 14th - Blessed Nicholas Palea, Visionary
(also known as Nicholas the Prior)
Born in Giovinazzo near Bari, Naples; died in Perugia, Italy, in 1255;
cultus
confirmed in 1828.
Born of a noble Neapolitan family, Nicholas was named for the great
wonder-worker who had once lived in the kingdom. At 8 he was already
practicing
austerities. He would not eat meat, even on feast days, because he had
been
favored by a vision of a young man of great majesty who told him to
prepare for
a lifetime of mortifications in an order that kept perpetual abstinence.
Sent to Bologna for his studies, he met Saint Dominic and was won by him
to the
new order. He was the companion of Saint Dominic on several of the
founder's
journeys to Italy, and warmed his heart at the very source of the new fire
which
was to mean resurrection to so many souls.
Saint Nicholas of Bari had been noted for his astounding miracles, and his
young
namesake began following in his footsteps while yet a novice. When on a
journey
with several companions, he met a woman with a withered arm. Making the
Sign of
the Cross over her, he cured her of the affliction.
At one time, as he entered his native Bari, he found a woman weeping
beside the
body of her child, who had been drowned in a well. He asked the woman the
name
of the child, and being told it was Andrew, he replied, "After this, it's
Nicholas. Nicholas, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, arise!" The
little one
revived, alive and well. The child of his sister Colette, mute from birth,
brought her famous uncle a basket of bread. "Who sent the bread, child?"
Nicholas asked her. "My mother," she replied, and from then on she was
cured.
As provincial of the Roman province, Nicholas was wise, prudent, and kind.
He
established priories in Perugia in 1233 and Trani in 1254. He received
many
novices and did much of his work among the young religious. Once he was
called
to the assistance of a novice who had been deceived by the devil and would
not
go to confession. He showed the young man the true state of his soul and
undid
the work of the evil one.
Nicholas earned great fame as a preacher. On one occasion, when he was
preaching
in the cathedral of Brescia, two irreverent young men began disturbing the
congregation and soon made such a commotion that Nicholas could not make
himself
heard. Nicholas left the cathedral to go to a neighboring hill and there
called
to the birds to come to listen to him. Like the birds in the similar story
of
Saint Francis, flocks of feathered creatures fluttered down at his feet
and
listened attentively while he preached. At the end of the sermon they flew
away
singing.
After a lifetime of preaching and miracles, Nicholas, forewarned of his
death by
a visit from a brother who had been dead many years, went happily to
receive the
reward of the faithful. Miracles continued to occur at his tomb and
through his
intercession. Among these was the miracle by which life was given to a
baby born
dead. His parents had promised to name the baby Nicholas if the favor were
granted, and to their great joy their child lived (Benedictines, Dorcy).
In art, Saint Nicholas is presented as a Dominican with a birch and a book
(Roeder). He is venerated in Giovinazzo and Perugia, Italy (Roeder).
This Version taken from:
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/ss-index.htm
Saint Quote:
Exercise pleasantness toward all, taking great care what you have
commanded may
never be done by reason of force. For God has given free will to everyone,
and
therefore never forces anyone-but only indicates, call and persuades.
-St. Angela Merici
Bible Quote:
35 Who then shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation?
or
distress? or famine? or nakedness? or danger? or persecution? or the
sword? 36
(As it is written: For thy sake we are put to death all the day long. We
are
accounted as sheep for the slaughter.) 37 But in all these things we
overcome,
because of him that hath loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death,
nor
life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor
things
to come, nor might, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,
shall be
able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
(Romans 8:35-39)
<><><><>
A Morning Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Christ
Dear Lord, I adore Your Sacred Heart, which I desire to enter with acts of
love, praise, adoration and thanksgiving. I offer You my own heart as I
sigh
to You from its very depths, asking that You will work through me in all
that I do this day; thus may I draw You closer to me each day. I offer You
all the crosses and sufferings of the world, in union with Your life on
earth, in expiation for sins. Please join my every action and heartbeat to
the pulsations of Your Heart. I unite all my works of this day to those
labors You performed while You were on earth, bathing them in Your
precious
Blood, and I offer them to the Heavenly Father so that many souls may be
saved. - Amen.
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