MARVELOUS MAY

It’s May!

It’s May!

A month of celebration!

Easter, roughly translated, means Spring.

Flowers are bursting forth . . .  especially the forsythia.

Grass begins to grow through the mud puddles.

Anticipation of a grand summer begins . . .  even if snow storms are still on the horizon.

Let’s linger awhile and drink in words of wisdom, words of affirmation, words regarding the wise ones, the saints, the martyrs and so much more.

May 1, 2019   "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”   Matthew 6:14-15

May 2, Thursday  "Many try to fly away from temptations only to fall more deeply into them; for you cannot win a battle by mere flight.  It is only by patience and humility that you will be strengthened against the enemy.  Those who shun them outwardly and do not pull them out by the roots will make no progress; for temptations will soon return to harass them and they will be in a worse state. 

It is only gradually—with patience and endurance and with God's grace—that you will overcome temptations sooner than by your own efforts and anxieties . . . Gold is tried by fire and the upright person by temptation.  Often we do not know what we can do until temptation shows us

what we are . . . This is how temptation is: first we have a thought, followed by strong imaginings, then the pleasure and evil emotions, and finally consent. This is how the enemy gains full admittance, because he was not resisted at the outset. The slower we are to resist, the weaker we daily become and the stronger the enemy is against us.”   Thomas à Kempis,  Imitation of Christ.

May 3  "As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”   Colossians 3:12-13

May 4     Polycarp of Smyrna (c. 69-155 A.D.) became a Christian in his youth, a disciple of John the Evangelist. John ordained him Bishop of Smyrna (in modern day Turkey) and from this position Polycarp became one of the most illustrious of the Apostolic Fathers. His closeness with the Apostles, and the long life that he lived, enabled him to protect the Church against heresy. The account of his martyrdom is well-preserved and is one of the earliest in the Church. Knowing the government was seeking his life, he received a vision while praying that he would be burned alive. After his capture he was encouraged to submit to Caeser in order to be released, but he refused. He was then taken to a public arena to be killed. He gave an outstanding testimony, declaring that he had served Christ for 86 years. Witnesses of his execution saw the flames surround his body without burning it, and that Polycarp began to glow and emit a sweet aroma. This amazed the crowds, and his executioners were then ordered to stab him to death.

May 5  Third Sunday of Easter
 "But I say to you that listen, love your enemies,

do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. ... Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.”  Luke 6:27-31

May 6   "You must first have peace in your own soul before you can make peace between other people. Peaceable people accomplish more good than learned people do. Those who are passionate often can turn good into evil and readily believe the worst.  But those who are honest and peaceful turn all things to good and are

suspicious of no one. ... It is no test of virtue to be on good terms with easy-going people, for they are always well liked. And, of course, all of us want to live in peace and prefer those who agree with us. But the real test of virtue and deserving of praise is to live at peace with the perverse, or the aggressive and those who contradict us, for this needs a great grace. ... in this mortal life, our peace consists in the humble bearing of suffering and contradictions, not in being free of them, for we cannot live in this world without adversity. Those who can best suffer will enjoy the most peace, for such persons are masters of themselves, lords of the world, with Christ for their friend, and heaven as their reward.”  Thomas à Kempis, Imitation of Christ.

5-7  “Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful.” 

Colossians 3:14-15

5-8  St. Mark the Evangelist (1st c.) was born to Jewish parents living in Libya in North Africa, later settling in Cana of Galilee not far from Jerusalem. Mark became one of the 70 disciples of Jesus and the author of the Gospel that bears his name. According to tradition, Peter the Apostle was married to a relative of Mark's father, and after Mark's father died, Peter looked after him like his own son. Being a close disciple of St. Peter, the first Bishop of Rome, Mark's Gospel is addressed to Gentile converts to the Christian faith living in Rome. Most of what we know about his life and missionary activity is recorded in the New Testament. He traveled to Egypt and founded the Church there, and was martyred c. 68 A.D. by being dragged through the streets of Alexandria until his body was torn to pieces.

5-9  "For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk blamelessly, guarding the paths of justice and preserving the way of his faithful ones.”   Proverbs 2:6-8

5-10  "We must not wish anything other than what happens from moment to moment, all the while, however, exercising ourselves in goodness. And to refuse to exercise oneself in goodness, and to insist upon simply awaiting what God might send, would be simply to tempt God.”    Catherine of Genoa

5-11  "God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”   1 Samuel 16:7b

5-12  Fourth Sunday of Easter and Mother’s Day

This is also Good Shepherd Sunday reminding us that Jesus laid down his life for His flock.  [“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (Jn. 10:11).]  

Here is an example of a Mother who gave her life so the 'flock' could survive, Clarissa Harlowe Barton, Clara, as she wished to be called.  She is one of the most honored women in American history. 
She began teaching school at a time when most teachers were men and she was among the first women to gain employment in the federal government. 
Barton risked her life to bring supplies and support to soldiers in the field during the Civil War.  At age 60, she founded the American Red Cross in 1881 and led it for the next 23 years. 
Her understanding of the needs of people in distress and the ways in which she could provide help to them guided her throughout her life. By the force of her personal example, she opened paths to the new field of volunteer service. Her intense devotion to serving others resulted in enough achievements to fill several ordinary lifetimes. 

The Red Cross provides about 40% of our nation’s blood and blood components, all from generous volunteer donors. But supply can’t always meet demand because only about 3% of age-eligible people donate blood yearly. Each new donor helps them meet patient needs.

5-13  “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world,but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.”   Romans 12:1-2

5-14  The deep secret of the mystery of faith lies in the fact that it is a “baptism” in the death and sacrifice of Christ. We can only give ourselves to God when Christ, by his grace, “dies” and rises again spiritually within us. Thomas Merton

5-15  Macarius of Jerusalem (4th c.) was the Bishop of Jerusalem from 312-335 A.D. Little is known of his life before this time. He took part in the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. and vigorously opposed the Arian heresy, which greatly threatened the early Church. It is believed that he was one of the bishops who helped draft the Nicene Creed. St. Athanasius, his contemporary, refers to Macarius as an example of "the honest and simple style of apostolical men." After the council, St. Macarius

accompanied St. Helen, the queen mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine, in her successful search for the True Cross that Jesus was crucified upon. It was he who suggested to Helen that she would identify the real Cross by touching all three of those she found to a seriously ill woman, and observe which one brought immediate healing. Following the discovery of the True Cross in this miraculous manner, Constantine wrote to Bishop Macarius requesting that he oversee the construction of a magnificent church in Jerusalem, the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, to commemorate the sites of the Crucifixion and Burial of Christ, which still exists today as one of the most important Christian pilgrimage sites in the world. 

5-16  "For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power

of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, 'The one who is righteous will live by faith.’"   Romans 1:16-17

5-17  “Whenever I go to the chapel, I put myself in the presence of our good Lord, and I say to Him, 'Lord, here I am. Tell me what You would have me do.' If He gives me some task, I am content and I thank Him. If He gives me nothing, I still thank Him since I do not deserve to receive anything more than that. And then, I tell God

everything that is in my heart. I tell Him about my pains and my joys, and then I listen. If you listen, God will also speak to you, for with the good Lord, you have to both speak and listen. God always speaks to you when you approach Him plainly and simply.”     St. Catherine Laboure

5-18  "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  Matthew 6:19-21

5-19  Fifth Sunday of Easter   St. James the Lesser (1st c.), also called St. James the Just, was one of the Twelve Apostles and the cousin of Jesus. Both James and his brother, Jude, began to follow Jesus in the second year of his ministry. James the Less was the first of the Twelve Apostles to whom the risen Christ appeared. After Jesus' ascension into heaven, James was given charge as bishop of the Church in Jerusalem, making him an important leader of the early Church. He was well-known for his prayer life and holiness. It is described that his knees and forehead were calloused due to long hours spent prostrate in prayer.  His sanctity was such that he was respected by the Jews and considered by many to be a holy man. James the Less is the author of the New Testament epistle that bears his name. He was martyred by being thrown from the roof of the Jerusalem temple and then stoned and beaten to death as he prayed for his murderers. He died in the year 62 A.D. during the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero. 

5-20  “Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, 'If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”   John 8:31

5-21  “We will never be free of trials and temptations as

long as our earthly life lasts. For Job has said: 'Is not the life of human beings on earth a drudgery?' (Job 7:1). Therefore, we should always be on our guard against temptations, always praying that our enemy, the devil, 'who never sleeps but constantly looks for someone to devour.' (1 Pet 5:8), will not catch us off guard. No one in this world is so perfect or holy as not to have temptations sometimes. We can never be entirely free from them. Sometimes these temptations can be very severe and troublesome, but if we resist them, they will be very useful to us; for by experiencing them we are humbled, cleansed, and instructed. All the Saints endured tribulations and temptations and profited by them, while those who did

not resist and overcome them fell away and were lost. There is no place so holy or remote where you will not meet with temptation, nor is there anyone completely free from it in this life; for in our body we bear the wounds of sin—the weakness of our human nature in which we are born.”  Thomas á Kempis Imitation of Christ    

5-22  “But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”  Ephesians 2:4-7

5-23   Dismas (1st c.) is the name Church tradition has given to the "Good Thief," one of the two criminals who were crucified alongside Jesus Christ on Good Friday. All we know about Dismas is what is mentioned of him in the Gospels: "Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, 'Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us.' The other [Dismas] however, rebuking him, said in reply, 'Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal.'" Then Dismas, as an expression of his faith in Christ as the Messiah, said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Jesus replied to Dismas, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise”

 (Luke 23:39-42)

5-24  “The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.”  Luke 6:45

5-25  “On the whole, God’s love for us is a much safer subject to think about than our love for Him. Nobody can always have devout feelings: and even if we could, feelings are not what God principally cares about. Christian Love, either towards God or towards man, is an affair of the will. If we are trying to do His will we are obeying the commandment, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God.’ He will give us feelings of love if He pleases. We cannot create

them for ourselves, and we must not demand them as a right. But the great thing to remember is that, though our feelings come and go, His love for us does not. It is not wearied by our sins, or our indifference; and, therefore, it is quite relentless in its determination that we shall be cured of those sins, at whatever cost to us, at whatever cost to Him.”  C. S. Lewis    Mere Christianity.

5-26 Sixth Sunday of Easter     "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”  Ephesians 1:3-6

5-27  Memorial Day celebrated: We celebrate those who fought for us, especially those who lost their lives so that we could retain the freedom we have as U.S. citizens.  This includes our freedom to worship as we choose.

There are also those who gave their lives so that the Gospel could spread throughout the world.  Matthias the Apostle (1st c.) followed Jesus during his entire earthly ministry and was one of his 72 disciples. Matthias was chosen by the 11 Apostles to replace Judas Iscariot after his betrayal of Christ and subsequent suicide. After Christ's Ascension into heaven, Matthias devoted himself to preaching Christianity among the pagans, some of them barbarians and cannibals, all over Judea, Cappadocia, and Ethiopia for over 30 years. Many miracles are ascribed to him as the pagans sought to kill him: that he was unharmed after being forced to drink poison, that he once hid by becoming invisible, and that the earth opened up and swallowed his attackers. Matthias also preached the need for mortification of the flesh as an aid to growth in holiness. Eventually, at God's appointed time, he was martyred for the cause of Christ, though there are 

conflicting traditions as to exactly where and how.

   

5-28  "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:16-17

5-29  “My Jesus, it is truly easy to become holy; it just takes a little good will! And if He finds this minimum of

good will in a soul, He quickly gives Himself to her. And nothing can stop Him, neither our faults nor our falls, absolutely nothing. Jesus hurries to help that soul; and if the soul is faithful to this grace from God, she can in a short time reach the highest levels of holiness that a created being can attain here below. God is very generous and does not refuse His grace to anyone. He gives even more than we ask for. The shortest road is faithfulness to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit." Maria Faustina Kowalska  from Diary of St. Maria Faustina.

5-30  Jesus’ Ascension into Heaven [10 days before Pentecost]  Jesus asked his Apostles to wait patiently for God’s power that will come into the lives of all who ‘believe.’  Luke 24:45 . . .Then He opened their minds to understand the scriptures.  :49 And behold, I am sending forth the promise of my Father upon you; but you are to

stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.  :50  And He led them out as far as Bethany and He lifted up his hands and blessed them .  :51 While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up to heaven.   :52 And they, after worshipping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great Joy!  and were continually in the temple praising God!

5-31  The Visitation 

Luke 1:39-57 Mary arose and went quickly to Judah, home

of Elizabeth and Zachariah  :41 The baby leaped in Elizabeth’s womb at Mary’s greeting and Elizabeth was “filled with the Holy Spirit”  :42 Elizabeth said, “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb! [Magnificat]  :46 My soul exalts the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior . . . :49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me and holy is His Name . . .:53 He has filled the hungry with good things . . . :56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth three months . . .  :57 and Elizabeth gave birth to a son [John the Baptizer]

APRIL ASPIRATIONS

April points to Spring.

Lent, another name for Spring, also slips into April.

Warmer weather is on the horizon.

Summer is getting closer.

Crocuses may die back to allow Tulips and Jonquils to take over the garden.  

A pop of color cuts through winter gray.

Hope springs forth.

We breathe a sigh of relief knowing that, perhaps, we have seen the last of the snow storms.

This may not always be the case but, for some who live up north, the option of sleet or snow may still be possible.

As we walk through two more weeks of Lent and enter Holy Week, it’s good to reflect on wise words from Scripture and the easy church fathers and mothers.

April 1  All Fools Day    It’s good to be a ‘fool’ for Christ.  [Some historians believe the April Fools' customs began in France, although no one knows for sure.  It may stem from a calendar change in 16th century France -- the moving of New Year's Day from April 1 to January 1 when the Gregorian calendar was adopted.People who continued to celebrate New Year's Day on April 1st rather than the new date of January 1st were referred to as "April fools" and others played tricks on them.]

“Realize it, my brethren; every one who breathes, high and low, educated and ignorant, young and old, man and woman, has a mission, has a work. We are not sent

into this world for nothing; we are not born at random; . . . God sees every one of us; He creates every soul, He lodges it in the body, one by one, for a purpose. He needs, He deigns to need, every one of us. He has an end for each of us; we are all equal in His sight, and we are placed in our different ranks and stations, not to get what we can out of them for ourselves, but to labor in them for Him. As Christ has His work, we too have ours; as He rejoiced to do His work, we must rejoice in ours also.”   John Henry Newman

4-2  “I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and

revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.”  Ephesians 1:17-19

4-3  “It is not that I want merely to be called a Christian, but to actually be one. Yes, if I prove to be one, then I can have the name.”  Ignatius of Antioch

4-4  “If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  1 John 1:9

4-5  “He does not come down from Heaven each day to

stay in the gold ciborium. He comes down to find another Heaven He cherishes infinitely more than the first, the Heaven of our souls, made in His image, living temples of the Most Blessed Trinity!”   Therese of Lisieux, Meditations with the Little Flower 

4-6  “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”  Galatians 2:19-20

4-7 Fifth Sunday of Lent   

"Even on the cross He did not hide Himself from sight;

rather, He made all creation witness to the presence of its Maker. Then, having once let it be seen that it was truly dead, He did not allow that temple of His body to linger long, but forthwith on the third day raised it up, impassible and incorruptible, the pledge and token of His victory. “    Athanasius of Alexandria

4-8  "Ah, my Lord God! You made the heavens and the earth with your great power and your outstretched arm; nothing is too difficult for you. ... Great and mighty God, whose name is Lord of hosts, great in counsel, mighty in deed, whose eyes are fixed on all the ways of mortals,

giving to all according to their ways, according to the fruit of their deeds.”    Jeremiah 32:17-19

4-9  “Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you. All things pass. God does not change. Patience achieves everything. Whoever has God lacks nothing; God alone suffices.”    Teresa of Avila

4-10  “God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, and makes me tread upon the heights.”   Habakkuk 3:19

4-11 “And let me make it quite clear that when Christians

say the Christ-life is in them, they do not mean simply something mental or moral. When they speak of being ‘in Christ’ or of Christ being ‘in them’, this is not simply a way of saying that they are thinking about Christ or copying Him. 
They mean that Christ is actually operating through them; that the whole mass of Christians are the physical organism through which Christ acts—that we are His fingers and muscles, the cells of His body. And perhaps that explains one or two things. 
It explains why this new life is spread not only by purely mental acts like belief, but by bodily acts like baptism and Holy Communion. It is not merely the spreading of an idea; it is more like evolution—a biological or super-

biological fact. There is no good trying to be more spiritual than God. God never meant man to be a purely spiritual creature. That is why He uses material things like bread and wine to put the new life into us. We may think this rather crude and unspiritual. God does not: He invented eating. He likes matter. He invented it.”  C. S. Lewis   Mere Christianity

4-12  “What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”   Matthew 10:27-28

4-13  As Eve believed the serpent, so Mary believed the angel. The delinquency which the one occasioned by believing, the other effaced by believing."   Tertullian

4-14  Palm Sunday:  Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of

God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.  
And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death-- even death on a cross.  
Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  Philippians 2:5-11

4-15  Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha

served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus' feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.  John 12:1-3

4-16  "I worry some of you still have not really met Jesus—one to one—you and Jesus alone. 

We may spend time in the chapel—but have you seen with the eyes of your soul how He looks at you with love? 

Do you really know the living Jesus—not from books but from being with Him in your heart? 

Have you heard the loving words He speaks to you? 

Ask for the grace; He is longing to give it. 

Until you can hear Jesus in the silence of your own heart, you will not be able to hear Him saying 'I Thirst' in the hearts of the poor. 

Never give up this daily intimate contact with Jesus as the real living person—not just the idea."

Mother Teresa

4-17   O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ... For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.   Romans 9:33,36

4-18 Maundy Thursday.  “Maundy” comes from the Latin, man-da-tum or commandment.  Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as I have loved you.” John 13:34

”You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and

with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”  Deuteronomy 6:5-9

4-19  Good Friday is heart wrenching as we walk with Jesus to the Cross.  The “Good” that comes from this day is Jesus’ shed blood on the Cross. He died so that we who believe in Him will not feel the sting of death but have eternal, resurrected life with Him.  

 “In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and

supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and He was heard because of his reverent submission. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered; and having been made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.”  Hebrews 5:7-9

4-20  On Holy Saturday the Church mourns in prayer and fasting, meditating on Christ's Passion and Death. There is no Mass during the day as Jesus is still in the tomb. On this day Jesus descended triumphantly into Hades (called the "harrowing of hell") and brought salvation to the righteous souls held captive there who awaited their promised Messiah, as recited in the Apostle's Creed. On the night of Holy Saturday the Church celebrates the Vigil of Easter Sunday, the celebration of Christ's resurrection from the tomb, the traditional time when the Sacraments of Initiation are given to new members of the Church.  morningoffering.com       

"Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.”   Hebrews 12:3

4-21  First Sunday of Easter       Hallelujah, 
Christ is Risen!  The Lord is Risen Indeed!   Hallelujah!

Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord's resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.   Book of Common Prayer    p. 222

4-22   "Yours, O Lord, are the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and on the earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand

are power and might; and it is in your hand to make great and to give strength to all. And now, our God, we give thanks to you and praise your glorious name.”   1 Chronicles 29:11-13

4-23  "Let anger be guarded against. But if it cannot be averted, let it be kept within bounds. For indignation is a terrible incentive to sin. It disorders the mind to such an extent as to leave no room for reason. The first thing, therefore, to aim at, if possible, is to make tranquility of character our natural disposition by constant practice, by desire for better things, by fixed determination.”         St. Ambrose 

4-24  "The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore.”  Psalm 121:5-8

4-25  “No one who follows Me will ever walk in darkness” (Jn 8:12). These words of our Lord counsel all to walk in His footsteps. 

If you want to see clearly and avoid blindness of heart, it is His virtues you must imitate. 

Make it your aim to meditate on the life of Jesus Christ. Christ's teachings surpasses that of all the Saints. 

But to find this spiritual nourishment you must seek to have the Spirit of Christ. 

It is because we lack this Spirit that so often we listen to the Gospel without really hearing it. 

Those who fully understand Christ's words must labor to make their lives conform to His.” 

Thomas a’ Kempis, The Imitation of Christ.

4-26   “Nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the

light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the housetops.”   Luke 12:2-3

4-27  "My child, if you accept my words and treasure up my commandments within you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; if you indeed cry out for insight, and raise your voice for understanding; if you seek it like silver, and search for it as for hidden treasures—then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.” Proverbs 2:1-5

4-28  Second Sunday after Easter       “The way of the righteous is level; O Just One, you make smooth the path of the righteous. In the path of your judgments, O Lord, we wait for you; your name and your renown are the soul’s desire. My soul yearns for you in the night, my spirit within me earnestly seeks you. For when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.”  Isaiah 26:7-9

4-29  "Everything that exists is a gift from God. Yet oftentimes we look to the things and creatures created by God for a satisfaction and fulfillment that only God Himself can provide. When the soul wraps itself around the things and the people of this world, looking for satisfaction or fulfillment that only God can give, it produces a distortion in itself, and in others as well. Many

spiritual writers call the process of unwinding this possessive, self-centered, clinging, and disordered seeking of things and persons ‘detachment’. The goal of the process of detachment is not to stop loving the things and people of this world, but, quite to the contrary, to love them even more truly in God, under the reign of Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Things and people become even more beautiful and delightful when we see them in this light. There are almost always painful dimensions to this process of 'letting go' in order to love more, but it's the pain of true healing and liberation. Christian detachment is an important part of the process by which we enter into a realm of great freedom and joy.”  The Fulfillment of All Desire, Ralph Martin.

4-30  “Moreover as for me, far be it from me that I

should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. Only fear the Lord, and serve him faithfully with all your heart; for consider what great things he has done for you.”   1 Samuel 12:23-24