Matthew 22:37-40
- From: "Hildi" <hildigard8@xxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 11 Jan 2006 11:35:36 -0600
Bible Verse
-- Matthew 22:37-40 --
Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest
commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
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Jesus says if we truly love God and our neighbor, we will naturally keep the
commandments. This is looking at God's law positively. Rather than worrying
about all that we should not do, we should concentrate on all we can do to
show our love for God and others.
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January 11th - Vitalis of Gaza, Hermit (AC)
Died c. 625. Vitalis was a monk of Gaza, of unknown origin, who in his
monk's dress, at the age of 60, arrived in the gay and dazzling city of
Alexandria, Egypt, like a ghost of the desert. In his lonely cell he had
read the story of the woman taken in adultery and had felt impelled to
travel to the city and work among the prostitutes. He obtained the name and
address of every harlot, hired himself out as a day laborer, and every night
took his wage to one of these unfortunate women.
It was a very strange and unconventional procedure. He would sup with the
woman, then, giving her the money, would say: "I pay thee this, that thou
mayest spend one night without sin." Afterwards he would pray with her,
often passing the night in reciting the Psalms, and, on leaving, would
extract a solemn promise that she would tell no one of the nature of his
visit.
It led to great scandal and he was gravely misunderstood, but the Church
refused to intervene and he continued his mission. Thus he visited in turn
every harlot in Alexandria, and many, moved by his purity and sincerity as
well as by his earnest appeal, abandoned their shameful calling. Many,
indeed, afterwards married and became good wives and mothers.
But his story ends in tragedy. One day, when leaving a house of ill fame, he
was struck on the head by a man who misunderstood his motive. Vitalis made
his way back with difficulty to the wretched hovel where he lived, and the
crowd that followed, when they entered, found him dead upon his knees. In
his hand was a fragment of parchment bearing the words:
"Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to
light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of
the heart."
Then all whom he had helped revealed the secret of his redemptive work, and
the whole city gathered to do him honor, the women following him to his
grave bearing lamps and candles (Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Gill).
Quote:
"Oh what remorse we shall feel at the end of our lives, when we look back
upon the great number of instructions and examples afforded by God and the
Saints for our perfection, and so carelessly received by us! If this end
were to come to you today, how would you be pleased with the life you have
led this year?"
-St. Francis de Sales
Bible Quote
27 And Abraham answered, and said: Seeing I have once begun, I will speak to
my Lord, whereas I am dust and ashes. (Genesis 18:27)
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Martyrology
At Rome, St. Hyginus, pope and martyr, who gloriously fulfilled his
martyrdom in the persecution of Antoninus.
Also at Rome, the birthday of St. Melchiades, pope and martyr. He suffered
much in the persecution of Maximian and, when peace returned to the Church,
died peacefully in the Lord. His feast day is kept on December 10.
At Fermo in Piceno, St. Alexander, bishop and martyr.
At Amiens in Gaul, St. Salvius, bishop and martyr.
In Africa, Blessed Salvius, martyr, on whose birthday St. Augustine
delivered a panegyric to the people of Carthage.
At Alexandria, the holy martyrs Peter, Severus, and Leucius.
At Brindisi, St. Leucius, bishop and confessor.
In the Thebaid, St. Palaemon, abbot, who was the instructor of St.
Pachomius.
At Suppentonia, near Mount Soracte, the monk St. Anastasius, and his
companions. They were called (to heaven) in a miraculous way and so went
happily to the Lord.
At Pavia, St. Honorata, virgin.
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ACT OF CONSECRATION
O Lord, since I am Thy servant and the son of Thy handmaid,
I renounce the devil and all his works and pomps; all the
vanity of this wicked world, and all the sinful lusts of the flesh.
Thou alone art the God of my heart; Thou, O God, art my
portion forever. Thou art the portion of my inheritance and of
my cup. Thou art He that will restore my inheritance unto me.
Do Thou therefore take for Thine own all the powers of my
soul, my memory, my intellect, and my will. All that I am, and
all that I have, Thou hast bestowed upon me: therefore I give
back all to Thee, and surrender it to be wholly governed by
Thy sovereign will. Grant me but grace to love thee alone,
and I am rich enough and ask no more.
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