- Psalm 37:3-7 -
Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteousness ****ne like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.
_______________________________________________________
David calls us to take delight in the Lord, and to commit everything we
have
and do (our "way") to him. But how do we do this? To delight in someone
means to experience great pleasure and joy in his or her presence. This
happens only when we know that person well. Thus to delight in the Lord,
we
must know him better. Knowledge of God's great love for us will indeed
give
us delight. To commit ourselves to the Lord means entrusting everything -
our lives, families, jobs, possessions - to his control and guidance. To
commit ourselves to the Lord means to trust him, believing that he can
care
for us better than we can ourselves. We should be willing to wait
patiently
for him to work out what is best for us.
<<>><<>><<>>
April 19th - Blessed James Duckett
James Duckett was an Englishman who lived during the reign of Queen
Elizabeth I. As a young man he became an apprentice printer in London.
This
is how he came across a book called The Firm Foundation of the Catholic
Religion. He studied it carefully and believed that the Catholic Church
was
the true Church. In those days, Catholics were persecuted in England.
James
decided that he wanted to be a Catholic anyway and would face the
consequences. The clergyman at his former church came to look for him
because James had been a steady church goer. He would not come back. Twice
he served short prison terms for his stubbornness. Both times his employer
interceded and got him freed. But then the employer asked James to find a
job elsewhere.
James Duckett knew there was no turning back. He sought out a disguised
Catholic priest in the Gatehouse prison. The old priest, "Mr. Weekes,"
instructed him. Duckett was received into the Catholic Church. He married
a
Catholic widow and their son became a Carthusian monk. He recorded much of
what we know about his father.
Blessed Duckett never forgot that it was a book that had started him on
the
road to the Church. He considered it his responsibility to provide his
neighbors with Catholic books. He knew these books encouraged and
instructed
them. So dangerous was this "occupation" that he was in prison for nine
out
of twelve years of his married life. He was finally brought to trial and
condemned to death on the testimony of one man, Peter Bullock, a book
binder. He testified that he had bound Catholic books for Blessed Duckett,
a
"grave offense." Bullock turned traitor because he was in prison for
unrelated matters and hoped to be freed.
Both men were condemned to die on the same day. On the scaffold at Tyburn,
Blessed Duckett assured Bullock of his forgiveness. He kept encouraging
the
man as they were dying to accept the Catholic faith. Then the ropes were
placed around their necks. Blessed Duckett was martyred in 1602.
Saint Quote:
Happy, indeed sublimely happy, is the person to whom the Holy Spirit
reveals
the secret of Mary, thus imparting to him true knowledge of her. Happy the
person to whom the Holy Spirit opens this enclosed garden for him to
enter,
and to whom the Holy Spirit gives access to this sealed fountain where he
can draw water and drink deep draughts of the living waters of grace. That
person will find only grace and no creature in the most lovable Virgin
Mary.
But he will find that the infinitely holy and exalted God is at the same
time infinitely solicitous for him and understands his weaknesses. Since
God
is everywhere, he can be found everywhere, even in hell. But there is no
place where God can be more present to his creature and more sympathetic
to
human weakness than in Mary. It was indeed for this very purpose that he
came down from heaven. Everywhere else he is the Bread of the strong and
the
Bread of angels, but living in Mary he is the Bread of children.
--from The Secret of Mary, by Saint Louis Marie de Montfort
Saint Quote:
The Son of man is to come with His Angels in the glory of His Father, and
then He will render to everyone according to his works. St. Matthew 16:27
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Gospel Canticle
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
He has come to His people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
born of the house of His servant David.
Through His holy prophets He promised of old
that He would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember His holy covenant.
This was the oath He swore to our father Abraham:
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to wor****p Him without fear,
holy and righteous in His sight
all the days of our life.
You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare His way,
to give His people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to ****ne on those who dwell in darkness
and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
- Luke 1:68-79
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