THE PERILS OF IDLENESS
You must not in the end-time abandon yourselves to idleness; you must not
remain inactive, apathetically awaiting the end, but instead work
tirelessly
in accordance with need, spiritually as well as terrestrially. Because
your
soul derives benefits only from activeness and not leisure. The end-time
shall demand bustling activity, due to the great extremity, which shall
compel participation in every type of work. Only those shall be well off
who
shall deny Me, who have fallen away from Me completely.
My faithful are having to struggle with extremity, terrestrially as well,
which however they shall be able to overcome with My sup****t, if keenly
active. But even right up to the end I want to keep up their keenness,
not
wanting them to be in danger of falling away from Me, by making
comparisons
between themselves and the godless and begin to wager in their faith in
Me.
Keen activeness guards them against erroneous thought, as activity is
life;
and so long as action is for the benefit of fellow man it also is a
blessing
for man' soul.
And the want of the time shall demand intense activity on behalf of
fellow
man; Mine shall have to be greatly on the move, and the proponents of My
Word themselves, My servants on earth, shall have to be so, and I shall
bless the efforts of all and take excessive depravation from them even
though it will seem like their self-help before the world. Because My help
shall manifest openly in them only where the power of faith is to be
published.
Every person however shall be able to act and strive spiritually, in spite
of the greatest demands on his physical strength before the end. -
Because
if he strives towards Me then My spiritual power shall carry out the work
of
man, and he can let his thoughts roam into the spiritual kingdom; he can
have close ties with Me always, he shall not through physical labour be
prevented from acting for the kingdom of God, where feasible. For I place
everyone where he can act in accordance with his abilities, spiritually
and
terrestrially. Besides, time to an active person will seem shortest,
whereas in inactive person prolongs his own time through lethargy.
Idleness registers no success, neither spiritually nor terrestrially. The
prince of the underworld takes an idle person into possession; he entices
him through worldly promises, and deflects him from his actual task on
earth. And the idle person follows him only too willingly, because of
trying to improve his worldly lot. - I earnestly warn Mine against
idleness. I want to bless any activist, which does not consist in
downright
lovelessness, and My blessing manifests in constant help out of spiritual
and earthly want.
Hence be untiringly active, considering there is not much time to the end
and that every activity is life. - Do not terminate the condition of life
before time, - use the life-power streaming to you in the proper way, then
the spiritual power also shall be multiplied, you shall hold out to the
end
and shall not have to fear and want, because you then fulfil My will also
in
this aspect, and shall be constantly assured of My protection, love and
power.
AMEN
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December 30th - St. John Alcober, Martyr
Born at Gerona, Spain, in 1694; died in Tonkin, 1748; beatified by Pope
Leo
XIII in 1893. Canonized in 2000. John Alcober was a good friend of Bishop
Blessed Francis Serrano, who was a brother Dominican of the Granada
monastery and a fellow martyr in Tonkin. The two had planned to enter the
Chinese missions together, but problems with the ****p marooned Father
Alcober in Lorca. There he spent his time as a popular preacher. In fact,
he
was beginning to forget about going to China until the Lord reminded him
one
day. As he was preaching, he used the words, "How long, you sinners, will
you remain hardened?" His crucifix reproached him, "And you, John-how
long?"
He sailed to Manila with 43 religious in 1726, and he finally made it to
China in 1728, where he labored for 16 years in the province of Fo-kien.
Here his life was very difficult; he had to hide in uncomfortable places,
and, once, he was smuggled in a coffin to anoint a dying man. Sometimes
disguised as a water seller, he moved about the city. Once, he was far
from
any shelter, and he climbed into a tree to spend the night. Piously
intoning
the Miserere before going to sleep, he was startled to hear another voice
answering his, and, to his joy, realized his old friend Father Serrano was
sitting in the same tree.
One of his last acts as a free man was to baptize a sick woman to whom Our
Lady of the Rosary had appeared. The new Christian was so beautiful after
her death that pagans crowded in to see her. Father Alcober's presence
there
led to his capture in 1746. Soon he found himself reunited in prison with
Father Serrano and another priest, Francis Diaz. They were tortured to
disclose the whereabouts of Bishop Peter Sanz, though the revealed
nothing.
The bishop and Father Joachim Royo, upon hearing of the capture of the
other
three, surrendered themselves in order to spare their brothers further
suffering.
The five were dragged before the emperor in chains, and again subjected to
torture. Bishop Sanz was beheaded, but the others languished in prison for
another six months. Father Alcober wrote a letter to his brother, a
Carmelite, saying that they were all in good spirits, but that they hoped
it
would end soon because they were eager to shed their blood. Here in
prison,
Father Serrano was appointed successor to Peter Martyr.
Late in November, these four was strangled in their cell at Futsheu during
the night. This was the best way to fend off their apostolic work among
the
jailers and soldiers. When the executioners returned in the light of day
to
dispose of the bodies, they were horrified to note that the faces of the
martyrs were not only serene, but shone with an unearthly radiance-a
phenomenon indeed for someone who had died by strangulation. Afraid of
being
punished for not carrying out their duty, the executioners covered the
faces
of their victims, but the Christians followed them nonetheless to try to
collect relics. The soldiers already knew there would be problems trying
to
dispose of the relics: Those of Bishop Sanz had resisted burning and
various
other kinds of destruction. For this reason, the persecuted Christians
were
able to retain the relics of the five martyrs (Benedictines, Dorcy).
This Version Taken From:
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/1230.htm
Saint Quote:
The hands should be at work, the heart with God.
--Saint Mary Joseph Rosello
Bible Quote:
For if you will forgive men their offences, your heavenly Father will
forgive you also your offences. (Matthew 6:14)
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Reflection and Prayer from the Imitation of Christ
"Watch and pray" is the simple means which Jesus Christ prescribes to
enable
a Christian to resist temptation, to avoid sin, and secure his salvation.
To
speak little to creatures and much to God, to renounce useless and curious
conversations, to speak only what is good or necessary, is an excellent
method of becoming an interior man, of preserving purity of heart and
peace
of conscience, and of becoming entirely united to God. A soul which gives
itself through the senses to creatures, and lives not an interior life,
but
amuses itself with trifles, is not at all in a state to relish the things
of
God, or to apply to prayer or recollection, which are so useful and so
necessary for salvation. Why, says St. Austin, dost thou, O dissipated and
wandering soul, seek content in created objects, in the goods and
pleasures
of life? Seek within thyself, by recollection, the only true and sovereign
Good, who is there, and who alone can satisfy thy desires.
Prayer: Give me, O God, that spirit of interior recollection which will
make
me attentive to Thy holy will and faithful to Thy graces. Grant that the
remembrance of Thine awful presence may remind me continually of Thy
blessed
life and conversation, and effectually control me during my earthly
pilgrimage. I am weary, O God, of living an exile from Thy presence, and
of
being so little affected by the consideration of Thy majesty as to do
nothing to please Thee. What can I find in Heaven or on earth that is
comparable to Thee? Thou art the God of my heart: grant I may be ever
sensible of Thy presence, and desire only the happiness of pleasing Thee,
in
time, that Thou mayest be my ****tion for eternity. Amen.
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