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TRÁI TIM
MẸ: NƠI CON NƯƠNG NÁU - ĐƯỜNG ĐẾN VỚI CHÚA |
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"Chúa Giêsu muốn dùng con để làm
cho Mẹ được nhận biết và yêu mến" |
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October 6/2009 -
Tuesday of 27th Week of Ordinary Time
LITURGICAL/THEME MEDITATION:
"You are anxious and troubled about
many things; one thing is needful"
UNIVERSAL CHURCH/WORLD EVENT(S):
Cardinal Turkson on Condoms
and HIV/AIDS
SAINT OF THE DAY
St. Bruno
GENERAL
MARIOLOGY
Book Six - Chapter V
JESUS BROUGHT BEFORE ANNAS AND
CAIPHAS
DIVINE MERCY
Divine Mercy in My Soul
NOTEBOOK VI
TEACHING/TESTIMONY/CONVICTION:
An Open Letter To My
Future Husband
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DAILY LITURGICAL MEDITATION |
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Tuesday (10/6): "You are anxious and troubled
about many things; one thing is needful"
Scripture: Luke 10:38-42
38 Now as they went on their way, he entered a village; and a woman
named Martha received him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called
Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But
Martha was distracted with much serving; and she went to him and said,
"Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell
her then to help me." 41 But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you
are anxious and troubled about many things; 42 one thing is needful.
Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from
her."
Meditation: Does the peace of Christ reign in your home and in
your personal life? Jesus loved to visit the home of Martha and Mary and
enjoyed their gracious hospitality. In this brief encounter we see two
very different temperaments in Martha and Mary. Martha loved to serve,
but in her anxious manner of waiting on Jesus, she caused unrest. Mary,
in her simple and trusting manner, waited on Jesus by sitting
attentively at his feet. She instinctively knew that what the Lord and
Teacher most wanted at that moment was her attentive presence. Anxiety
and preoccupation keep us from listening and from giving the Lord our
undivided attention. The Lord bids us to give him our concerns and
anxieties because he is trustworthy and able to meet any need we have.
His grace frees us from needless concerns and preoccupation. Do you seek
the Lord attentively? And does the Lord find a welcomed and honored
place in your home?
The Lord Jesus desires that we make a place for him, not only in our
hearts, but in our homes and in the daily circumstances of our lives as
well. We honor the Lord when we offer to him everything we have and
everything we do. Afterall, everything we have is an outright gift from
God (1 Chronicles 29:14). Paul the Apostle urges us to give God glory in
everything: "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 3:17). When you sit, eat, sleep and when you entertain your
friends and guests, remember that the Lord Jesus is also the guest of
your home. Scripture tells us that when Abraham opened his home and
welcomed three unknown travelers, he welcomed the Lord who blessed him
favorably for his gracious hospitality (Genesis 18:1-10; Hebrews 13:2).
The Lord wants us to bring him glory in the way we treat others and use
the gifts he has graciously given to us. God, in turn, blesses us with
his gracious presence and fills us with joy.
"Lord Jesus, to be in your presence is life and joy for me. Free me
from needless concerns and preoccupations that I may give you my
undivided love and attention."
Psalm 139:1-3, 13-15
1 O LORD, thou hast searched me and known me!
2 Thou knowest when I sit down and when I rise up; thou discernest my
thoughts from afar.
3 Thou searchest out my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with
all my ways.
13 For thou didst form my inward parts, thou didst knit me together in
my mother's womb.
14 I praise thee, for thou art fearful and wonderful. Wonderful are thy
works! Thou knowest me right well;
15 my frame was not hidden from thee, when I was being made in secret,
intricately wrought in the depths of the earth.
www.dailyscripture.net
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UNIVERSAL CHURCH/WORLD EVENTS |
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Cardinal Turkson on Condoms and HIV/AIDS
"Support the Production of Retroviral Drugs"
VATICAN CITY, OCT. 5, 2009 ( Zenit.org).- Here is a transcription of the answer Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, archbishop of Cape Coast, Ghana, gave today on his position on the prevention of AIDS during a press conference in Rome. The cardinal is the relator-general of the Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops.
* * *
The question of HIV/Aids … I think in Africa there are so very, very many various scenarios involving the HIV/Aids question. There is a situation in Southern Africa which is tragic, which is very pressing and that's where most of the references about the situation of HIV refers to. I personally have an experience of this in Botswana where I spent some time and I witnessed the fact that almost every weekend, about four-five people are buried, young people and not. It's like … it's dissipating the work-force of the Nation and the effect is bad. So the treatment of it: I mean, there are two prevailing … I suppose this, in this regard: there is the discovery now of the antiretrovirus, and it is either the antiretrovirus or it is the use of condom to stop the spread of HIV/Aids, unless we go with the abstinence, you know, and fidelity to partners and things like that.
And from my own, you know, we've learned from Ghana we've not done a total and thorough research on this, but the small titbits that we have from our hospitals, because in Ghana the Catholic Church is small, about 30 per cent, of all the health institutions in the Country; next to the government, we provided the biggest number of health facilities, so from this small survey we've discovered in our hospitals, when even people propose, you know, the use of condom, it becomes effective only in families where they resolve also to be faithful. The ordinary use of condoms, just as a stop of Aids, it is not the given, appreciable resort in our case.
When young people resort to condom, it is only also when it goes with fidelity, in that situation where one of the partners may be suffering from HIV/Aids themselves. When that is the case, let's talk it over plainly here: we are talking about a product of a factory, and there are different qualities. There are condoms which arrive in Ghana (where in the heat they burst during sex), and when that is the case, then it gives the poor a false sense of security which rather facilitates the spread of Hiv/Aids. And when that is the case, then we are reluctant even in the case of, you know, conjugal relation and people who are faithful, people are reluctant to talk about it.
But still our primary concern and our priority are such that what we will talk first about will probably be this: the abstinence and loyalty and fidelity and you refrain from sex when it is not the case. And as once I suggested to somebody: if anybody came to me ever with Hiv/Aids and wanted my view, I know that in all situations of pastoral counselling the pastor never decides what a candidate must do. It's the same in psychological counselling situations: you just expose the issues, discuss the issues with the candidate and allow the person to decide, take his own decision. And when that is the case, I would not undervalue the possibility that somebody who has Aids, recognizing his own Christian commitment, would simply just decide to refrain from sex. I have not come across too many, but I have come across a few; a few Christians and Catholics, who recognizing that they have Aids, have just refrained or refused to have … because of fear of spreading it. Some would, in such a situation, have advised the use of condom by the partner who has Hiv/Aids so it doesn't spread. But again, in our part of the world, even the use of condom is sometimes risky: risky in the sense that will we have cases of condoms that have burst during sex and it is they themselves who have come to talk about it otherwise we would not have known it in our hospitals.
So, since that is the case, if we have provided a top quality condoms, no one can probably uncertainty speak of this, but this is also not the case. So, I would basically wish that the amount of resources which are available to put into the production of condoms, if they were spent to subsidize the antiretroviral drugs, now I think we would be happier, in Africa, for the availability of the retroviral drugs then. So, the resources are there to produce condoms for our use; there would probably, in my opinion, so like me, if I were ever asked, then I would probably say: then let us use those resources to support the production of retroviral drugs so they can be more available to people. Right now it is not available to very many, because of the cost. So if you have the means of bringing down the cost, that's probably the big favour that we can do to people suffering from HIV/Aids.
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DAILY LITURGICAL SAINT |
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http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintofDay
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GENERAL
MARIOLOGY |
THE DIVINE HISTORY AND
LIFE
OF THE
VIRGIN MOTHER OF GOD
BOOK SIX
The Marriage
at Cana; How Most Holy Mary Accompanied the Re-
deemer of the
World in His Preaching: the Humility shown by the
Heavenly Queen
in regard to the Miracles Wrought by Her
Divine Son;The
Transfiguration of the Lord;His Entrance
into
Jerusalem; His Passion and Death; His Triumph
over Lucifer
and his Demons by His Death on
the Cross; the
Most Sacred Resurrection
of the Savior
and His Wonderful As-
cension into
Heaven
CHAPTER V.
JESUS BROUGHT BEFORE ANNAS AND CAIPHAS.
Having been taken prisoner and firmly bound, the most
meek Lamb Jesus was dragged from the garden to the house of the
highpriests, first to the house of Annas (John 18, 13). The turbulent
band of soldiers and servants, having been advised by the traitorous
disciple that his Master was a sorcerer and could easily escape their
hands, if they did not carefully bind and chain Him securely before
starting on their way, took all precautions inspired by such a mistrust
(Mark 14, 44). Lucifer and his compeers of darkness secretly irritated
and provoked them to increase their impious and sacrilegious
illtreatment of the Lord beyond all bounds of humanity and decency. As
they were willing accomplices of Lucifer's malice, they omitted no
outrage against the person of their Creator within the limits set them
by the Almighty. They bound Him with a heavy iron chain with such
ingenuity, that it encircled as well the waist as the neck. The two ends
of the chain which remained free, were attached to large rings or
handcuffs, with which they manacled the hands of the Lord, who created
the heavens, the angels and the whole universe. The hands thus secured
and bound, they fastened not in front, but behind. This chain they had
brought from the house of Annas the highpriest, where it had served to
raise the portcullis of a dungeon. They had wrenched it from its place
and provided it with padlock handcuffs. But they were not satisfied with
this unheard-of way of securing a prisoner; for in their distrust they
added two pieces of strong rope: the one they wound around the throat of
Jesus and, crossing it at the breast, bound it in heavy knots all about
the body, leaving two long ends free in front, in order that the
servants and soldiers might jerk Him in different directions along the
way. The second rope served to tie his arms, being bound likewise around
his waist. The two ends of this rope were left hanging free to be used
by two other executioners for jerking Him from behind.
The Author of our salvation, hiding his power of
annihilating his enemies in order that our Redemption might be the more
abundant, submitted to all the consequences of the impious fury which
Lucifer and his hellish squadron fomented in the Jews. They dragged Him
bound and chained under continued ill-treatment to the house of Annas,
before whom they presented Him as a malefactor worthy of death. It was
the custom of the Jews to present thus bound those criminals who merited
capital punishment; and they now made use of this custom in regard to
Jesus, in order to intimate his sentence even before the trial. The
sacrilegious priest Annas seated himself in proud and arrogant state on
the platform or tribunal of a great hall. Immediately Lucifer placed
himself at his side with a multitude of evil spirits.
Imperiously and haughtily the highpriest asked Him
about his disciples (John 18, 191), and what doctrine He was preaching
and teaching. This question was put merely for the purpose of
misinterpreting his answer, if Jesus should utter any word that afforded
such a chance. But the Master of holiness, who is the Guide and the
Corrector of the most wise (Wis. 7, 15), offer to the eternal Father the
humiliation of being presented as a criminal before the highpriest and
of being questioned by him as a prevaricator and author of a false
doctrine. Our Redeemer with an humble and cheerful countenance answered
the question as to his doctrines: "I have spoken openly to the world: I
have always taught in the synagogue and in the temple, whither all the
Jews resort: and in secret I have spoken nothing. Why askest thou Me?
ask these, who have heard what I have spoken unto them: behold they know
what I have said," As the doctrine of Christ our Lord came
from his eternal Father, He spoke for it and defended its honor. He
referred them to his hearers, both because those by whom He was now
surrounded, would not believe Him and wished to distort all He should
say, and because the truth and force of his teachings recommended and
forced themselves upon the minds of his greatest enemies by their own
excellence.
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DIVINE MERCY
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Divine Mercy In my soul
The Mercy of the Lord I will sing Forever.
Divine Mercy in my soul.
Sr. Faustina, Diary
NOTEBOOK V I
J.M.J.
April 19, 1938.
during recreation, one of the sisters [sister Cajetan] said, “sister,
Faustina is doing so poorly that she can hardly walk, but may she die soon
because she is going to be a saint.” Then one of the sister directresses
[sister Casimir] said, “That she is going to die, we know; but whether she
is going to be a saint, that is another question.” There then began some
malicious remarks on this subject. I kept silent, then I put in a word, but
I saw that the conversation was getting worse, so again I fell silent.
At present, I am getting letters from sisters who are in other houses and
who made their novitiate with me. They often amuse me and make me laugh, as
they usually go something like this: “dear Sister Faustina, we are very
sorry that you are so gravely ill; but we are very happy that, when the Lord
Jesus takes you away, you will pray for us, for you have a lot of influence
with the Lord.” One of the sisters put it this way: “when you die, sister,
please take me under your special care, for certainly you can do that for
me.” Another sister wrote as follows: “how I am waiting for the time when
the Lord Jesus will take you, because I know what will happen then; and I
greatly desire death for you.” I did want to ask her what she was thinking
of, concerning my death, but I mortified myself and answered. “The same
thing will happen to me, a sinner, as happens to all sinners, if Gods’ mercy
does not shield me.”
April 20, 1938. Departure for Pradnik. I was very worried that I would be
put in bed in a ward and be exposed to all sorts of things. If it were to be
for only a week or two… but it is for such a long time, two months or
perhaps more. In the evening, I went for a long talk with the Lord Jesus.
When I saw the Lord Jesus, I poured out my whole heart before Him, all my
troubles, fears and apprehensions. Jesus lovingly listened to me and then
said, Be at peace, My child, I am with you. Go in
great peace. All is ready; I have ordered, in my own special way, a private
room to be prepared for you. Reassured and
overwhelmed with gratitude I went to bed.
On the following day, Sister Felicia took me there. I left in great peace
and a calm spirit. When we arrived, they told us there was a private room
for sister Faustina. When we entered the room, we were surprised that
everything had been prepared so beautifully: all was clean and neat, covered
with tablecloths and bedecked with flowers; a pretty Easter Lamb had been
placed on the night table by the sisters. At once, three Sacred Heart
sisters who work at the sanatorium, my old acquaintances, came and greeted
me warmly. Sister Felicia was surprised at all this. We bid a warm farewell
to each other, and she left. When I was alone, with just the Lord Jesus and
myself, I thanked Him for this great grace.
Jesus said to me, Be at peace; I am with you.
Tired, I fell asleep. In the evening, the
sister [sister David] who was to look after me came and said, “tomorrow you
will not receive the Lord Jesus, sister, because you are very tired; later
on, we shall see.” This hurt me very much, but I said with great calmness,
“very well,” and, resigning myself totally to the will of the Lord, I tried
to sleep. In the morning, I made my meditation and prepared for Holy
Communion, even though I was not to receive the Lord Jesus. When my love and
desire had reached a high degree, I saw at my bedside a Seraph, who gave me
Holy Communion, saying these words: “Behold
the Lord of Angels.” When I received the Lord,
my spirit was drowned in the love of God and in amazement. This was repeated
for thirteen days, although I was never sure he would bring me Holy
Communion the next day. Yet, I put my trust completely in the goodness of
God, but did not even dare to think that I would receive Holy Communion in
this way on the following day. The Seraph was surrounded by a great light,
the divinity and love of God being reflected in him. He wore a golden robe
and, over it, a transparent surplice and a transparent stole. The chalice
was crystal, covered with a transparent veil. As soon as he gave me the
Lord, he disappeared.
Once, when a certain doubt rose within me shortly before Holy Communion, the
Seraph with the Lord Jesus stood before me again. I asked the Lord Jesus,
and not receiving an answer, I said to the Seraph, “could you perhaps hear
my confession?” and he answered me, “No spirit
in heaven has that power.” And at that moment,
the Sacred Host rested on my lips.
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CATHOLIC TEACHING/CONVICTION/TESTIMONY |
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An Open Letter To My Future Husband
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ven though I don't know exactly who you'll be yet, I think of
you often. I wonder how you're living your life now. It matters
to me, you know, because how you live your life now determines
the kind of man you're becoming--and the kind of man I'll spend
the rest of my life with.
Apparently, for some bizarre reason, manhood doesn't come
automatically for males. Some guys seem to spend their
entire lives trying to "prove their manhood" by hunting,
playing sports, driving fast ... and, unfortunately, by
having sex. It seems rather strange to us women that guys
think having sex proves they're a man. To us, it just proves
that they've reached puberty. And we don't really consider
that, in itself, to be any great accomplishment. Becoming a
man is a much more complicated process.
The funny thing is, even in this day and age, most guys want
to marry a girl who respects her sexuality. A guy doesn't like
the idea of his future wife in the back seat with someone else,
or of her being the subject of a sexual conquest story in the
locker room. They'll brag about girls like that, but they won't
marry them. They want to marry a girl, whether she's never "done
it" or done it and regretted it, who recognizes that sex speaks
the language of forever, committed love... someone like me.
Why would I want to marry someone like that, someone who
wants to marry a virgin but spends his dating years robbing
other girls of their virginity so that he can prove as manhood?
He's not a "real man" in my eyes -- he's a selfish, immature boy
driven by insecurity, not love -- and I'm not interested.
I want more from you. I want you to respect your sexuality as
much as respect mine. I want you to be a real confident man, not
a wimp who has to use women to feed his insecurity. A guy like
that couldn't use all of those women and then suddenly love me.
He may be "good" in bed, but he's no good at loving.
I want you to learn to really love. Learning to love is
learning to put the other first. A guy who messes around outside
of marriage isn't putting the good of the other first. He's
using a girl --speaking the "body language" of permanent
commitment when the relationship isn't permanent. He's putting
the girl at risk of pregnancy, and he's putting himself at risk
for some nasty diseases--diseases he can then later give his
wife. That's not making love. A real man loves women--all
women--and wants what's best for them. And he doesn't let his
desires control his actions. He controls his desires instead.
I want you to develop self control. That's important to me. I
don't want to marry a man who can't control himself. Men like
that make lousy husbands. A guy who isn't used to saying "no" to
sex isn't going to be any better at it at 40 than he is at 18.
I've seen women who worry every time their husbands hire an
attractive secretary. I don't want that. What kind of marriage
could I have with someone I couldn't even trust on a business
trip?
In the short run, I'm sure there aren't too many rewards for
a guy living this way. Society tells you that you're missing out
on your "sexual peak." Your silence during the locker room
bragging sessions can seem deafening. You may have even heard
from the girls you date that something must be "wrong" with you
because you won't take them to bed. Deep down, you must know
that having sex won't prove you're a man. It's just irritating
that no one else seems to know it, isn't it?
But somebody does know it. I know it, and in the end, I'm the
only someone who matters.
And no, I'm not as narrow-minded as those guys who say
they'll only marry a virgin. Society isn't too supportive of
virginity, especially male virginity. I can forgive mistakes in
your past. But I'm interested in your future, starting now. When
I meet you, I want you to be a man who has made a conscious
decision to wait--out of love for our future family and
commitment to our marriage. I want you to be a real man, who's
developed the control, maturity and unselfishness that waiting
brings. They may not be popular traits in the locker room, but
they're popular with me. They'll make you a better husband, and
a better father. To me, that's sexy.
I've abstained from sex all of these years, and it hasn't
been from the lack of offers. I've had plenty of opportunities,
and saying "no" hasn't always been easy. I'm sure it's not
always easy for you, either. But it will make our marriage so
much stronger. Sex will be our gift to each other, our exclusive
"language." It'll belong to us, not "us and everyone else we
ever dated."
Thanks for waiting for me. I promise you won't regret it.
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