A Picture, a List, and a Conclusion

Oaken Tree

    I came across this enormous, huge oak tree the other day at the recently reopened Camp Salmen. I wish someone were standing in the picture for perspective because, frankly, it’s ginormous.

    I’m working on a Camp Salmen post for some time this week.

    A Quick List

  1. Our Deacons preached this weekend, and I have to say they did a marvelous job.

  2. Every time I turned around today a Letter to the Phillipians was being read. First in the Office, then again in the Office from one of the Church Fathers, then at Masses.

    When a reading jumps out at me for no particular reason (I hear many different readings, all the time after all,) I figure the Holy Spirit is trying to get my attention. So then I test the spirit to be sure, and go with the discernment. (Life is so complex at times.)

  3. I keep coming back to this:

    Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory;
    rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves,
    each looking out not for his own interests,
    but also for those of others.

  4. I love this passage / verse. I’ve also grown jaundiced enough to realize that many others will not be living this way. But… that doesn’t matter.

  5. A growing lesson I’ve been taking away from the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, is that holiness is often unrecognizable in the world.

    Jesus lived a small, unrecognized life out on the edges of humanity, and then was murdered. Yet his legacy blossomed and changed the world.

  6. So, each of us who profess to follow Jesus Christ, is called to live with the humility expressed in St Paul’s Letter to the Phillipians; and all throughout Scripture of course.

    Humbly regard others as more important than yourselves.”

  7. Oh. That could be tough.

  8. The biggest help that we can have for the world is to seek holiness in our state of life.

    For some that’s in business, some in education, some in politics, some in their roles as parents, etc… Wholeness, and holiness, are what brings the world into balance.

In Conclusion

I wish I had more to offer this evening, but I don’t. It would be a corny analogy to compare the effects of a true and authentic personal sanctity to a little acorn which grew into a mighty oak. So I will not do that!

Hmmm… I just did that, didn’t I?

It’s a good analogy, so we can leave with that.

Oak Tree

Holiness. It’s what’s important.

St. John Bosco

Don BoscoDon Bosco — what a great Saint! Several sites informing on his life and work are New Advent / Catholic Encyclopedia 1917; the Wikipdedia article is good; American Catholic does a good job; and of course, the mother of all St. John Bosco Sites, Saint Bosco dot org.
Don Bosco's Vision

Now, a few quotes from the saint:

“Do you want Our Lord to give you many graces? Visit Him often. Do you want Him to give you few graces? Visit him seldom. Visits to the Blessed Sacrament are powerful and indispensable means of overcoming the attacks of the devil. Make frequent visits to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and the devil will be powerless against you.”

“Everything and everyone is is won by the sweetness of our words and works.”

“Our Lady wishes us now to honor Her especially under the title of ‘Help of Christians’. In these evil days we need Her help.”

“Our Lady does not care for the homage of those who want to remain in mortal sin.”

“Avoid idleness and idle people; carry out your duties. Whenever you are idle you are in serious danger of falling into sin, because idleness teaches us all kinds of vice.”

“Go to Mass every day and if possible, serve it. Do a little spiritual reading. Say devoutly your morning and evening prayers. Every morning make a brief meditation on a truth of our faith.”

“The music of the young should be listened to with the heart and not with the ears.”

“A school without music is a school without a soul, for music aids education. It is a most effective means to obtain discipline, morality, and help good feeling…”

“There can be no virtue without obedience.”

“To do what we are told, for love of Jesus, makes us very pleasing to God.”

“In all the miracles of healing performed by Our Divine Savior, we must admire the remarkable goodness which caused Him to heal first the sickness of the soul, then that of the body. He teaches us the great lesson that we must first purify our consciences before turning to God for help in our earthly needs.”Bosco

On The Feast of Catherine

192576st-catherine-of-siena-posters

 I love St. Catherine of Siena, and here are some quotes to live by:

“To a brave man, good and bad luck are like his right and left hand. He uses both.”

“Strange that so much suffering is caused because of the misunderstandings of God’s true nature. God’s heart is more gentle than the Virgin’s first kiss upon the Christ. And God’s forgiveness to all, to any thought or act, is more certain than our own being.”

Pax Christi…

A Beautiful Day

It’s a beautiful day outside.

There are moments of holiness in every day, and I’ve been given to ponder upon how life in general goes on despite the ups and downs of our individual lives. For all the woes in the world, it’s a beautiful day outside, and all one has to do is walk outside to simply be in it and to enjoy it. The woes of the world will always be outdone by God’s blessings.

“Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord; praise and exalt Him above all forever!”

The Rev. Kenneth Allen