St. Winifred, Virgin and Martyr, (650)
St. Hubert of Liege, Bishop, (727)
St. Marachy of Armagh, Bishop, (1148)
For this is the will of my Father,
that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him
may have eternal life,
and I shall raise him on the last day.—
The poet John Guzlowski wrote the following:
What My Father Believed
He didn’t know about the Rock of Ages
or bringing in the sheaves or Jacob’s ladder
or gathering at the beautiful river
that flows beneath the throne of God.
He’d never heard of the Baltimore Catechism
either, and didn’t know the purpose of life
was to love and honor and serve God.He’d been to the village church as a boy
in Poland, and knew he was Catholic
because his mother and father were buried
in a cemetery under wooden crosses.
His sister Catherine was buried there too.The day their mother died Catherine took
to the kitchen corner where the stove sat,
and cried. She wouldn’t eat or drink, just cried
until she died there, died of a broken heart.
She was three or four years old, he was five.What he knew about the nature of God
and religion came from the sermons
the priests told at mass, and this got mixed up
with his own life. He knew living was hard,
and that even children are meant to suffer.
Sometimes, when he was drinking he’d ask,
—Didn’t God send his own son here to suffer?—My father believed we are here to lift logs
that can’t be lifted, to hammer steel nails
so bent they crack when we hit them.
In the slave labor camps in Germany,
He’d seen men try the impossible and fail.He believed life is hard, and we should
help each other. If you see someone
on a cross, his weight pulling him down
and breaking his muscles, you should try
to lift him, even if only for a minute,
even though you know lifting won’t save him.
Reflect on those words.
Death is as certain as life, and suffering is equally as certain.
God Himself took on our suffering and our death so to save us, to bring us home to heaven.
How we respond, how we react, to the extent we lift others in their suffering, if even for a moment, is the testimony we give to our faith in Jesus Christ, our faith in His promise of heaven. His promise that He will raise us on the last day.
Amen.
Feast of All Souls
St. Victorinus of Pettau, Bishop and Martyr, (303)
St. Marcian, Monk, (387)
I received a very kind E-mail from John Guzlowski of the Lightning and Ashes blog. This blog has linked to John for awhile now.
John has three published editions of poetry: Lightning and Ashes, Third Winter of War: Buchenwald, and Language of Mules.
John’s poetry is primarily focused on his parents who had been slave laborers in Nazi Germany. His website notes the his poems try to remember them and their voices.
John was extremely generous and sent along a poem which he asked me to include on these pages. He said:
I want to give you a poem about my father and his beliefs. He was a “faith-filled” man, and always took Jesus and the things the priests said seriously.
This poem is particularly appropriate as we remember the faithfully departed this All Souls Day. I will certainly remember John’s parents Jan and Tekla in my prayers at Requiem Holy Mass tomorrow. Eternal rest grant onto them O Lord!
What My Father Believed
He didn’t know about the Rock of Ages
or bringing in the sheaves or Jacob’s ladder
or gathering at the beautiful river
that flows beneath the throne of God.
He’d never heard of the Baltimore Catechism
either, and didn’t know the purpose of life
was to love and honor and serve God.He’d been to the village church as a boy
in Poland, and knew he was Catholic
because his mother and father were buried
in a cemetery under wooden crosses.
His sister Catherine was buried there too.The day their mother died Catherine took
to the kitchen corner where the stove sat,
and cried. She wouldn’t eat or drink, just cried
until she died there, died of a broken heart.
She was three or four years old, he was five.What he knew about the nature of God
and religion came from the sermons
the priests told at mass, and this got mixed up
with his own life. He knew living was hard,
and that even children are meant to suffer.
Sometimes, when he was drinking he’d ask,
—Didn’t God send his own son here to suffer?—My father believed we are here to lift logs
that can’t be lifted, to hammer steel nails
so bent they crack when we hit them.
In the slave labor camps in Germany,
He’d seen men try the impossible and fail.He believed life is hard, and we should
help each other. If you see someone
on a cross, his weight pulling him down
and breaking his muscles, you should try
to lift him, even if only for a minute,
even though you know lifting won’t save him.
Solemnity of All Saints
Saints Caesarius and Julian, Martyrs, (unknown)
St. Benignus of Dijon, Martyr, (unknown)
St. Quintinus, Martyr, (unknown)
St. Foillan, Abbot, (655)
St. Wolfgang of Regensburg, Bishop, (994)
St. Serapion of Antioch, Bishop, (212)
St. Marcellus the Centaurian, Martyr, (298)
St. Asterius of Amasea, Bishop, (410)
Let us then be shepherds like the Lord. We must meditate on the Gospel, and as we see in this mirror the example of zeal and loving kindness, we should become thoroughly schooled in these virtues.
For there, obscurely, in the form of a parable, we see a shepherd who had a hundred sheep. When one of them was separated from the flock and lost its way, that shepherd did not remain with the sheep who kept together at pasture. No, he went off to look for the stray. He crossed many valleys and thickets, he climbed great and towering mountains, he spent much time and labour in wandering through solitary places until at last he found his sheep.
When he found it, he did not chastise it; he did not use rough blows to drive it back, but gently placed it on his own shoulders and carried it back to the flock. He took greater joy in this one sheep, lost and found, than in all the others.
Let us look more closely at the hidden meaning of this parable. The sheep is more than a sheep, the shepherd more than a shepherd. They are examples enshrining holy truths. They teach us that we should not look on men as lost or beyond hope; we should not abandon them when they are in danger or be slow to come to their help. When they turn away from the right path and wander, we must lead them back, and rejoice at their return, welcoming them back into the company of those who lead good and holy lives. — Saint Asterius of Amasea
I received a spam E-mail from the United Nations… well not exactly.
The give away was that the E-mail from the U.S. Committee for UN (which isn’t a real organization) came from Dr. Adams Collins who directs me to send my resume/CV to: adamscollins2004@yahoo.com. Once you apply it looks like they hit you up for application and training fees.
You could also write to:
Dr.Adams Collins
Recruitment Officer
U.S. Committee for UN
Two UN Plaza, 24th Floor
New York, NY 10017
For a full exposition on this see Spam of the Week: Fake UN Agency Job Advertisement from Rik Panganiban at The Click Heard Round the World.
Lots of other interesting stuff at his blog a well.
St. Narcissus of Jerusalem, Bishop, (215)
St. Theuderius, Abbot, (575)
St. Abraham of Rostov, Abbot, (12th century)
Feast – Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles
Saints Anastasia and Cyril, Martyrs, (unknown)
St. Fidelis of Como, Martyr, (303)