Welcome To My World!

One single grateful thought raised to heaven is the most perfect prayer.

G. E. Lessing (1729 - 1781)

Love Is ...

Love is the greatest feeling,
Love is like a play,
Love is what I feel for you,
Each and every day,
Love is like a smile,
Love is like a song,
Love is a great emotion,
That keeps us going strong,
I love you with my heart,
My body and my soul,
I love the way I keep loving,
Like a love I can't control,
So remember when your eyes meet mine,
I love you with all my heart,
And I have poured my entire soul into you,
Right from the very start.

- Meghan -

SEPTEMBER 19
ST. JANUARIUS

Januarius lived in the fourth century. He was born either in Benevento or Naples, Italy. He was the bishop of Benevento when Diocletian's persecution began. The people of Naples have claimed a special love for and devotion to Bishop Januarius. He is popularly called "San Gennaro." According to common belief, San Gennaro learned that some Christian deacons had been put in prison for their faith. The bishop was a gentle, compassionate man. He truly cared about his people and went to the prison to visit them. The jailer reported him to the governor who sent soldiers to find San Gennaro. The bishop was arrested along with a deacon and a lector. They joined the other prisoners.

San Gennaro and the six others were martyred for their faith. Their deaths took place near Naples in 305. The people of Naples have claimed a special love for and devotion to "San Gennaro." In fact, he is considered their patron saint.

The people of Naples remember San Gennaro for another special reason: his martyr's blood was preserved centuries ago in a vile. The blood has become dark and dry. But at certain times of the year, the blood liquifies. It becomes red, sometimes bright red. At times, it even bubbles. The special case containing the vile of blood is honored publicly on the first Saturday of May, on September 19 (the feast of San Gennaro), within the octave (or eight days after the feast), and at times on December 16. The liquified blood has been seen and honored since the thirteenth century.

Daily Reading & Meditation

Tuesday (9/19): "When the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her."

Scripture: Luke 7:11-17

11 Soon afterward he went to a city called Na'in, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. 12 As he drew near to the gate of the city, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a large crowd from the city was with her. 13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep." 14 And he came and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, "Young man, I say to you, arise." 15 And the dead man sat up, and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother. 16 Fear seized them all; and they glorified God, saying, "A great prophet has arisen among us!" and "God has visited his people!" 17 And this report concerning him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

Meditation: How do you respond to the misfortunes of others? In a number of places the gospel records that Jesus was "moved to the depths of his heart" when he met with individuals and with groups of people. The English word "compassion" doesn't fully convey the deeper meaning of the original Hebrew word which expresses heart-felt "sympathy" and personal identification with the suffering person's grief and physical condition. Why was Jesus so moved on this occasion when he met a widow and a crowded funeral procession on their way to the cemetery? Jesus not only grieved the untimely death of a young man, but he showed the depth of his concern for the woman who lost not only her husband, but here only child as well.

The scriptures make clear that God takes no pleasure in the death of anyone (see Ezekiel 33:11); he desires life, not death. Jesus not only had heart-felt compassion for the widow who lost her only son, he also had extrordinary supernatural power -- the ability to restore life and to make whole again. Jesus, however, as a Jew incurred grave risk by approaching the bier, since the Jews understood that contact with a dead body made oneself ritually impure. His physical touch, however, not only restored life but brought freedom and wholeness to soul as well as body. This miracle took place near the spot where the prophet Elisha raised another mother's son back to life again (see 2 Kings 4:18-37). Jesus claimed as his own one whom death had seized as its prey. By his word of power he restored life for a lad marked for death. Jesus is Lord not only of the living but of the dead as well. Jesus triumphed over the grave and he promises that because he lives (and will never die again), we also shall have abundant life with and in him both now and forever (John 14:19).