- James 3:9-12 -
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse
men,
who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise
and
cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt
water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives,
or
a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
______________________________________________________________________________
Our contradictory speech often puzzles us. At times our words are right
and
pleasing to God, but at other times they are crude, vicious and
destructive.
Which of these speech patterns reflects our true identity? The tongue
gives
us a picture of our basic human nature. We were made in God's image but we
have also fallen into sin. God works to change us from the inside out.
When
the Holy Spirit purifies a heart, he gives self-control so that person
will
speak words that please God.
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October 16th - St Gerard Majella, Redemptorist
(1726-1755)
Saint Gerard Majella is known as a Thaumaturge, a Saint who works miracles
not just occasionally, but as a matter of course. It has been said that
God
raises up not more than one every century. He was born in Italy at Muro
Lucano, south of Naples, in 1726. As a child of five, when he would go to
pray before a statue of the Virgin with her Child, the Infant Jesus
regularly descended to give him a little white bun. He took it home and
naively told his mother, when she asked him, where he obtained it. His
sister was sent to the church to observe in secret, and saw the miracle
for
herself. He wanted very much to receive Holy Communion at the age of seven
and went to the Communion railing one day with the others; but the priest,
seeing his age, passed him up; and he went back to his place in tears. The
following night, Saint Michael the Archangel brought him the Communion he
so
much desired.
As he grew older, when anyone spoke to him about marriage, he would
answer:
"The Madonna has ravished my heart, and I have made Her a present of it."
He
desired to enter religion, but his health was unstable as a result of the
mortifications he had constantly practiced as a young man. He had acquired
a
reputation of sanctity, and finally, when he was 23 years old, he obtained
the aid of some missionaries to second his request, and was admitted as a
Coadjutor of the newly founded Congregation of Redemptorists, in 1749.
He showed himself to be a model of every virtue and he did the work of
four,
still finding time to take on himself that of others. He would say: "Let
me
do it, I am younger, take a rest." He made the heroic vow of always
choosing
what appeared to him most perfect. He was perfectly obedient to his
superior's wishes, even when not expressed; and one day, to demonstrate
this
to a visiting authority who required a proof, his immediate Superior sent
him out, saying: "I will tell him interiorly to return; he needs no other
command than this." Soon the Brother knocked on the door once more and
said:
"You sent for me to come back?" He conducted a group of students on a
nine-day pilgrimage to Mount Gargano, where the Archangel Michael had
appeared. They had very little money for the trip, and when they arrived
at
the site, there was none left. Gerard went before the tabernacle and told
Our Lord that it was His responsibility to take care of the little group.
He
had been observed in the church by a religious, who invited the Saint and
his companions to lodge in his residence. When the party was ready to
start
home again, Gerard prayed once more, and immediately someone appeared and
gave him a roll of bills.
The most famous of Saint Gerard's miracles occurred when a mason fell from
a
scaffolding during the construction of a building. Gerard had been
forbidden
by his Superior to work any more miracles without permission. He stopped
the
man in mid-air, telling him to wait until he had obtained permission to
save
him. He received it, and the man descended gently to the ground. When a
plague broke out, he had the gift of bilocation; he was seen in more than
one house at the same time, assisting the sick. Not a page of his life, it
is said, was without prodigies, all tending to the glory of God and
motivated by prodigious charity towards his neighbor. He was condemned
falsely at one time, as a result of a connivance between two individuals;
the Superior General, Saint Alphonsus Liguori himself, who did not know
Gerard personally, was induced to believe the black calumny. Later the
guilty ones wrote him a letter confessing their fault, and Gerard, who had
said nothing at all when relegated into solitude, was asked why he had not
said he was innocent. He replied that the Rule required that the religious
not defend themselves.
He died in 1755 at the age of 29 years, was beatified in 1893 by Pope Leo
XIII and canonized in 1904 by Saint Pius X.
Source: Biography of St. Gerard Majella, text by A. R. Levebvre, in Un
Saint
pour chaque jour du mois (Paris: 1932), Vol. 10, October.
Saint Quote :
Whatever troubles may be before you, accept them bravely, remembering Whom
you are trying to follow. Do not be afraid. Love one another, bear with
one
another, and let charity guide you all your life. God will reward you as
only He can.
--Blessed Mary MacKillop
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FATHER OF THE HIDDEN FACE
Dearest Father...why do You hide
Behind that brilliant light?
Would we poor mortals perish
At such a cosmic sight?
Will You gather us close to You
When the shackles are cast aside?
Will we bask in this glory
When You claim Your loving bride?
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