What busy summer!

a very busy time. There is much news and activity, I hope to be posting soon.

More from Deacon Jim on Marriage and Family

What do Catherine of Sienna, Thersa of Avila, and Therese of Lisieux have in common? Not when they lived (500 years apart). Not the economic status of their families. Not formal education. All three were saints, and are Doctors of the Church. These three are the only women who have been elevated to such status. A Doctor of the Church is first recognized as having lead a life of great sanctity and is declared to be a Saint in heaven. Second, a Doctor is recognized as having produced writings through which the entire Church gains great advantage. All three women had only limited formal education, and never considered themselves theologians or scholars. Each of these three imparted a unique understanding of the revelation of God to man that is recognized throughout history. All three came to such profound understandings through the impact of their family life and their personal openess to to the inner teaching of our Lord. It is important to recognize that through the lives and teachings of the family members, they were each schooled in ways of spiritual life that surpasses that of the most important of Universities.

CELEBRATION - Growth in love- 4th stage
MEDITATION- SACRAMENTS-79-MATRIMONY 9
The Church has through the ages of the Old and New Testaments, up to the present age emphasized the need for family in the formation of its children in the ways of the world and in the ways of God. The Hebrew family of the Old Testament was a close knit group, who learned the ways of the world by working with the father and the mother within the household and most daughters became mothers and fulfilled the role taught by their mothers and sons learned their trade from their fathers. In the transmission of spiritual knowledge, the entire family followed the rule of their faith and expressed their devotion through communal, family and personal prayer. As the first Christians, including Jesus, were Hebrew, these traditions passed into the Christian discipline of life.

The importance of family life is well expressed in the Book of Genesis, where, “in the beginning” when God created Eve from the flesh and blood of Adam while he was in an ecstatic state. The ecstatic conjugal union of husband and wife assuring the begetting of children at the same time provides a source of joy and happiness passed on to the children.
This teaching is expressed by the Bishops of the world in the Second Vatican Council document Gaudium et spes (Joy and peace) in 1965. In this document article 50 states; “While not making the other purposes of matrimony of less account, the true practice of conjugal love, and the whole meaning of the family life which results from it, have this aim: that the couple be ready with stout hearts to cooperate with the love of the Creator and the Savior. Who through them will enlarge and enrich His own family day by day.”

In 1981, Pope John Paul II in article 28 of his Apostolic Exhortation; “The Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World.” Writes the following. “The fruitfulness of conjugal love is not restricted solely to the procreation of children, even understood in its specifically human dimension: it is enlarged and enriched by all those fruits of moral, spiritual and supernatural life which the father and mother are called to hand on to their children and through the children to the Church and to the world.”

It is important that during preparation for celebration of the Sacrament of Matrimony that both members of the couple clearly understand that this sacrament is not a matter of their personal fulfillment. Although it is important that each partners are fulfilled through marital union is most importantly about a total giving of self to the spouse throughout life and when children are born, a total giving of both “selves” to each of the children. When this is done with intention and care, not only will children be successful in the world of industry, but they will also be successful in the spiritual world. It is from such determination that saints are made.

Want to enter the tent?

Who shall be admitted to your tent and dwell on your holy mountain?
He who walks without fault;
who acts with justice and speaks the truth from his heart;
who does not slander with his tongue;
who does no wrong to his brother, casts no slur on his neighbor;
who holds the godless in disdain, but honors those who fear the Lord;
who keeps his pledge, come what may - PS 15

Set an example in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity. Be diligent and absorbed in these matters, so that your progress may be evident to everyone. 1 Tim

Seek the Lord in integrity of heart - Wis. 1

Coming towards a sinless life is like a journey. All along the road we are faced with decisions. Make the right ones, based on a closeness at heart to God, and have faith that you will arrive. Once you decide that you want to go the way instructed by your "good shepherd", you will be constantly tempted to deviate, and must make the right choices when the decision comes. The pattern of consistently making choices in line with God's word is called "attaining sanctification" by the church. It is the road to salvation and the reason the church in both the institution and in the family spends so much time on education.

Pure of Heart

Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. Mt.
They are happy whose life is blameless. Psalms
If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly father will forgive yours. Mt.

Strive to keep the commandments, to keep a soft heart, and to forgive those who have wronged you. But don't go overboard with offering the other cheek. Remember that your life is precious, too.

Do Right and Fear No Man

Guard me as the apple of your eye. Hide me in the shadow of your wings. Ps17:8
From Deut. 32: Our God is faithful, without deceit. Yet basely he has been treated by his children. Is this how you repay your father who created you and established you?

This morning's prayers from the Magnificat: You, God, are the rock on which we stand; uphold those who seek to live justly in places of injustice. You, God, are without deceit. Free those who conceal their hearts in falsehood and betray other's trust.

When we leave our parents and go out into the "real world", we are confronted with the fruits of sin in the form of lies and deception. Many are the sins of humanity. How common it is for modern men to lust after easy money, or undeserved power. Hidden agendas abound. Stay right with God, keep his commandments. He is alive. He is your father. He is saving you. Pray for those who succumb to deception, that they also will be saved.

29+ inches since the drought ended in April. The National weather service will say that "normal" rainfall here is 23 inches a year. What they don't tell you is that there has never been a normal year. The TV will tell you it is global warming. Maybe so. It is still God's creation, and he will do what he will. The old timers around here knew that there never was a "normal" year. Today's title was a favorite saying of my grandfather.

Unless you become like little children, you shall not enter the kingdom of God. Matt.

Children have a gift for wonder. In wondering, we forget ourselves, and praise from the heart comes easy. It is amazing that we, in spite of our faults and weaknesses, are made in God's image and as such are his children; given dominion over the other creatures.

Let it Shine

From Matthew: Jesus says "You are the light of the world. [no one] lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Your light must shine before others, so that they can see your good deeds and glorify God."

Louis Lavelle, a 1950's Christian philosopher and professor from France, suggests a gentle approach to shining. He notes that "The will stiffens when another would bend or break it, but relaxes in the presence of gentleness. Only gentleness wins battles without fighting them, and transforms foes into friends." Remember this when you face opposition. Try to silence the tumult of your own passions, and get your emotional reaction under control. Approach the disagreement in a docile and sensitive way so that you can "follow the subtle and sensitive contours of reality".

On the ranch the cowboys must get the cattle to go into the pens, get on a truck or go through the chute. This is best accomplished not by brutality, which often results in injury, but by keeping the cattle calm and moving at an easy gait.