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-Philip

Transfered Posts

All of the posts below this one were transfered from our old website. Enjoy!

-Philip McGrath

St. John of the Cross

St. John of the cross.. .


St. John was a mystic and after his death and subsequent sainthood, he was made a doctor of the church for his writings:

dark night of the soul

the ascent

spiritual canticle. . .

So what exactly is a dark night of the soul?

Iit is a time of great despair . . .it is Rachel weeping for her children, it is a lonely teen reaching for drugs, it is a friendship betrayed.

As you may recall, it is in my song gethsemane . . .

& I quote; "in this soul's dark night, he said, I believe my time has come"

Jesus, I believe, had a dark night at gethsemane . . .

John had his dark night when his fellow monks threw him in to prison because they disagreed with his teachings and ideas . . . he was cold, alone and betrayed.

There, he wrote dark night of the soul . . .

It is a beautiful poem that has been studied time and time again.

Eventually he escaped from prison and went to stay with St. Theresa of Avila and her sisters. . .

Here is the poem by St. John of the cross . . . the dark night of the soul.

(He uses a lot of imagery here.... love of course is Jesus.  But many many scholars have spent years and years studying this poem.)


Prologue to the Dark Night:

One dark night
fired with love's urgent longings
-ah the sheer grace!
I went out unseen,
my house being now all stilled;
In darkness and secure
by the secret ladder, disguised,
-ah the sheer grace!
in darkness and concealment, my house being now all stilled;
On that glad night
in secret, for no one saw me,
nor did I look at anything, with no other light or guide, than the one that burned in my heart;
This guided me
more surely than the light of noon
to where he was awaiting me
-him I knew so well-
there in a place where no one appeared.
o guiding night!
o night more lovely than the dawn!
the Lover with his beloved,
transforming the beloved in her lover.
upon my flowering breast
which I kept wholly for him alone,
there he lay sleeping
and I caressing him
there in a breeze from the fanning cedars.
when the breeze blew from the turret,
as I parted his hair
it wounded my neck
with its gentle had,
suspending all my senses.
I abandoned and forgot myself
laying my face on my Beloved;
all things ceased; I went out from myself,
leaving my cares, forgotten among the lilies.


* remember, volumes upon volumes have been written about this passage.

-Jamie Dillon

St. Jude

St. Jude, also known as Thaddeus, was one of the 12 apostles. After Christ died, he preached the gospel in Mesopotamia with St. Simon, and was eventually martyred.. . They did not like Christians much then.


I think he was killed with arrows or javelins or something.


Anyhow, because his name is so close to Judas, people did not pray to him for a long time. . They were confused.And so, he became the saint everyone went to when they were desperate.In one book I have, he is pictured with an anchor, which is the catholic symbol for hope.


Here is the prayer to St. Jude:


Most holy apostle, St. Jude, friend of Jesus, I place myself in your care at this difficult time.  Pray for me; help me know that I need not face my troubles alone. Please join me in my need, asking God to send me consolation in my sorrow, courage in my fear, and healing in the midst of my suffering.Ask our loving God to fill me with the grace to accept whatever may lie ahead for me and my loved ones, and to strengthen my faith in God's healing power. Thank you, St. Jude, for the promise of hope you hold out to all who believe, and inspire me to give this gift of hope to others as it has been given to me.Amen.


How does that compare to the our father . . .?

Father Maximilian Kolbe

I don't know why, but this week I have selected Father Maximilian Kolbe.


He died in 1941, and is already a saint.


He was a polish priest who published a catholic paper.Naturally, the Nazis picked him up and put him into prison.; While he was there, a prisoner escaped, so the soldiers picked some prisoners at random to make an example of. One guy who was picked cried for the wife and children that he would leave behind.Father Kolbe asked to die in his place. The soldiers of course, did not care. He and the others that were chosen were put into a cell where they were given nothing, and supposed to die of thirst and hunger.


Imagine what a slow and painful death that would be?They had to drink their own urine.Father Kolbe prayed as each one perished. He and another were left at the end of the week.They were injected with carbolic acid. . And died.


When he was canonized in 1982, the prisoner that Father Kolbe had replaced was present. . . I wonder what he was thinking or feeling. . .


I like this story, because this man lived in our century. My parents or grandparents could have (but did not of course) known him. Who are our saints today?

Amos

This week's saint has not actually been canonized, so he does not have the title of saint . . . He was a prophet in the eighth century BC.

His name is Amos. And yes, he has a book in the old testament.

Amos was peasant, herding sheep and tending to sycamore trees when he received a call from God.

Know that prophets were not fortunetellers. They foresaw future events in terms of cause and effect . . . they knew that God's covenant was in direct relation to the faithfulness of His people.

I like Amos because he spoke of mercy for the poor, and justice for the oppressed. Guess mankind has not changed much, huh?

THEY SELL THE RIGHTEOUS FOR SILVER

AND THE NEEDY FOR A PAIR OF SHOES

THEY THAT TRAMPLE THE HEAD OF THE POOR INTO THE DUST OF THE EARTH, AND TURN ASIDE THE WAY OF THE AFFLICTED.

I will not go on, but he also poked at the lack of piety the people had.

That got him into trouble with the powers that be. He was expelled from Israel and forced to return to Judah.

LET JUSTICE ROLL DOWN LIKE WATERS

AND RIGHTEOUSNESS LIKE AN EVER FLOWING STREAM.

The stuff in big letters is quotes from Amos.

Pretty weird - something that was written 2800 years ago still holds true....

-Jamie Dillon

St. Patrick

St. Patrick

Patrick was the son of a minor Roman official (so they had a bit of $$). They lived in Britain.

Well, as a teenager he was kidnapped and taken to Ireland. He was there for many years (and treated badly . . . like a slave)

When he found a way to escape, he made his way back home.

Because he realized that he had over come great odds to accomplish what he did, he knew that God wanted him to do something special. He became a priest and was living in France when he kept having dreams that Ireland was calling to him.

Finally, he went back. . He became bishop of Ireland and baptized tens of thousands of people. The rest of his story is legend.

Imagine first what his homecoming must have been like? I can only imagine the joy of his family . . . imagine how perilous his journey home from Ireland must have been.

And imagine how hard it must have been for him to go back to a place with such bad memories.

Patrick’s life is a great story for us all to learn from. What is the point in harboring resentments? How can you let fear or hopelessness keep you a prisoner when God is always near? To quote veggie tales . . ..”God helps the little guy do big things too"".

-Jamie Dillon

Perpetua and Felicity

Saints Perpetua and Felicity (died in 203)

I recently got a book on saints, and had never heard of them before that.

Their story is cool.

Perpetua was a wife and mother. Felicity was her servant. They were Christians, back in the day when Christians were murdered left and right.

Naturally, they were imprisoned for practicing their faith. The catch is that Perpetua had newborn son, and Felicity was 8 months pregnant.

While they were imprisoned, Perpetua started writing about it and her feelings and such. How she missed her son. How her father nagged her to denounce her faith, how her breasts hurt because she could not nurse her baby . . .

Eventually, they did allow her son to stay with her. In the meantime, an execution date was set and Felicity still did not have her baby! So, they had an all night prayer vigil, and she had the baby the day before her execution. It was a girl, which was adopted by a trust worthy friend.

The women were given the worst death imaginable, to fight with wild beasts in the arena. They were stripped (and then given their clothing back out of respect for their motherhood). They hugged each other and then were attacked. . They survived. Then they were stabbed by a solider, who apparently missed Perpetua. She actually helped direct the sword.

Perpetua's memoirs were completed by fellow Christians, and were read by the early church, almost as much as the Gospels. I admire their conviction. How easy we have it . . . . .or do we?

-Jamie Dillon

Joan of Arc

St. Joan of Arc.

Joan lived during the 1400's when England and France were at war. She saw her sister raped and murdered. From a young age she heard “voices". According to my reference, St. Catherine and Michael the arc angel spoke to her . . . in the movie, Messenger, it was God or Jesus.

Her voices urged her to return France to God and make sure that Dauphin was made king of France, as he was the rightful heir to the throne.

After much debate, the dauphin gave her an army and sent her with his troops to fight the English. . She won. Again and again . . .

The dauphin was made king.

Now this sounds great, but once he was king, he pretty much abandoned her . . . she was captured by the English and after being imprisoned for a year, she was burned at the steak for dressing like a man. . .and not revealing whose voice she was hearing. 450 years later, she was canonized.

The compelling thing about this story is that Joan was a teenager.

She led an army. She never gave up on what she knew was true. She had faith enough to listen to, and follow her voices. She was a Nobody who stood up to the Somebodys. True, she lost her life . . .but she gained heaven and is still an inspiration nearly 600 years later.

Think about that the next time that you are confronted with something that you know is wrong, something that you know is against what you believe . . .. Stand up . . .stand up to the Somebodys. And Joan will stand with you. Or, as they sing in veggie tales . . . stand, stand up for what you believe in, believe in believe in God. . .He's the one to back you up. . . he'll stand with you. . He’ll stand with you.

-Jamie Dillon

Thomas a Kempis

Thomas a Kempis.

He is considered a spiritual master. He lived in the late 1300's. He was a monk in Germany. He was eventually ordained a priest. There is nothing extraordinary about his life, except for the book that he wrote . . .It is called the Imitation of Christ. This book is probably the most influential handbook of spiritual devotion ever written. It inspired such saints in later years at St. Thomas More, and St. Ignatius . . ..

Anyhow, in his book he said that imitating Christ does not mean necessarily in deed, but in heart. To be pious, humble, to be detached from the world.

To pray and be obedient to God's will.

The world sees and judges according to appearances, but God sees what is in the heart. “God regards the greatness of the love that prompts a man, rather than the greatness of his achievement."

In our renew group last week we talked about what Jesus' house would look like if He was a teen like you living in the year 2000. We all imagined it would be clean and simple. Not overstated. We imagined Jesus to be the same way. I see him in jeans. Not Tommy Hilfiger, just jeans.

How do you see Jesus? If he were a teen now, what would he be like?
Would you want to be his friend? Being a peer, how would he see you?
Do you care more about what your friends think of you, or what God thinks of you??

-Jamie Dillon

I have picked a more modern saint who's feast day is today . . . Max Josef Metzger 1887-1944. Max was ordained right before the First World War. He spent much time at the front and so devoted his life thereafter to peace and reconciliation. Max founded the world peace league and the world congress of Christ the king.

He said in a speech in France . . . Only the realization of what is the dream of us all can bring peace: a true league of nations a coalition of all nations in a genuine Christian family of nations worthy of man.

He was an early pioneer in the ecumenical movement.

Being a German around the time of the Second World War you might guess that he was not favored by his government. He had regular conflicts with them. He was imprisoned in 1944. " I have offered my life to God for the peace of the world and the unity of the church . . ."

He was imprisoned for a year. During that time, he was a source of hope and inspiration to fellow prisoners and his associates on the "outside". He missed saying mass very much as he was mostly kept in irons. He was beheaded, yes beheaded . . .in 1944. His final words were Lord Jesus now I come quickly. . . . .

This man lived at the same time as my parents and grandparents. I find that hopeful. Sometimes I wonder who are our saints today.

I know there are out there . . .I know that we may even walk in their midst.

Take notice of the good that others do. Take notice of the good inside yourself. You are holy whether or not you choose to act that way or be that way. You are.

-Jamie Dillon

Brother Juniper

Brother Juniper.

His feast day is May 14.

Juniper was one of the original companions/brothers of St. Francis. This is around the year 1250 or so.

Anyhow, the Franciscans were known as "fools for Christ". . .because they would give anything to any one. . .and Brother Juniper was no exception. He would give away things from the altar to the poor, even the clothes off his back! This would infuriate the people that he lived with, to the point where they would hide their belongings.

He kind of reminds me of Robin Hood. His zeal and passion are impressive. What do you have zeal and passion for? Perhaps if we harness just a bit of that zeal for a positive outcome, we could end hunger, for example.

There is enough food in this world . . . we just need to do a Robin Hood, and let the rich feed the poor.

Open your mind, Open your heart . . . and open your life to what God can do.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King

No he is not a saint per say . . . but his work and his beliefs are not far from that . . . ..

He stood up for what he believed in and never ever wavered in his faith.

Back in the 50's he said . . .

“As you know my friends, there comes a time when people get tired of being trampled over by the iron feet of oppression. If we are wrong, then God almighty is wrong! If we are wrong, Jesus was merely a utopian dreamer and never came down to earth!! If we are wrong, justice is a lie!”

This launched his career as a leader in the civil rights movement.

From that time, his house was bombed, he was imprisoned, he was stabbed and eventually he was assassinated.

He was not perfect and he knew that . . . he said . . . .”I am a sinner like all of God's children. But I want to be a good man. And I want to hear a voice saying to me one day, I take you in and I bless you because you tried."

I love that. I often feel the same way. How about you?

Each sunrise is a new beginning.

Dympna

Our saint of the week is Dympna. She is one of the saints of Ireland. She lived in the 700's.

Her father was a king. (That means he was rich). He was a pagan, but her mother was a Christian, and she was baptized in secret. When her mother died, the king wanted to marry Dympna because she looked like her mother. Dympna refused. She fled with her chaplain and a friend. They went into hiding in Belgium. But the chieftain was a connected guy. . . and he found her of course. He beheaded her and her chaplain. Nice father huh? Many, many miracles have been performed in her name - including cures for mental illness and epilepsy.

I wonder how a father could murder his daughter like that? Does anger know no boundaries?

Monitor your anger. Know that people and things do not make you angry, you do. You do that to yourself by how you react. You can control your feelings . . . IF you choose to.

A little anger is ok . . . A lot is not . . .

And in the end it what you do with it or about it that matters.

-Jamie Dillon

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-Philip