Lemuel The Servant

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St.Augusitine writing Confessions

While remembering all his youthful follies, he remembers how God's unfarthomable grace has been a shield for him, how grace leads to discover his faith into Three in One God.

Divine Illumination

St: Augustine receive divine illumination from Jesus the Son of God and Mary, the mother of Jesus, enlightening him while he is writing his discourse.

St.MONICA and St.AUGUSTINE at Ecstacy at Ostia

Two saints, mother and son receive a vision of heaven at Ostia, near Rome. It was the last moment of the two being together, looking heaven ward, and later St.Monica died and was buried there.

Seminarians on the wall.

With co-seminarians, where trying to escape the scourging sunlight, sitting on the fence and keeping ourselves calm with jokes.

Rosary Garden at Tabor Hill, Talamban

A place of prayer and peace, a place of love and charity where being together with the mother of our Divine Lord, and recitation of Holy Rosary knocks the doors of Heaven.

31 January, 2013

Interesting Bible Facts



            
Jesus made his living as a carpenter with hammer, wood, and nails.
 Jesus was killed by the Romans who used a hammer, wood, and nails.

In 1 Peter 5:8, St. Peter says that the devil is a roaring lion and wants to eat us.
In John 6:53-58, Jesus says that in order to be saved we have to eat His flesh and drink His blood.

At the tower of Babel, God confused the language so that people could not communicate with each other any more. The tower to heaven that Nimrod was trying to build was abandoned. (Genesis 11:7- 8). The people all scattered across the world.
At Pentecost, the languages were unconfused by God, so that people of different tongues could all understand each other. Peter converted 3000 with this technique.(Acts 2:6, 41)

 After Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, “their eyes were opened’ to the fact that they were naked (Genesis 3:7)
  On the way to Emmaus, after they ate the blessed bread, the followers of Jesus' “eyes were opened” and they recognized Jesus (Luke 24:30-31).

In Leviticus 21:10, it was forbidden for the High Priest to tear his garment.
In Matthew 26:65, Caiaphas, the High Priest for that year, tore his robes in protest of Jesus proclaiming himself to be the Son of God.  In John 19:24, the Roman soldiers did not tear Jesus' robe (Jesus is the eternal High Priest). In Matthew 27:51, God tore the curtain of the temple in two following the crucifixion.

Moses and the Israelites  came up out of the water of the Red Sea and went into the desert (Exodus 15), where they were tested by God regarding their faith.  They failed the test.  Deuteronomy 6 and 8 talk about this sojourn and testing.

Jesus came up out of the waters of the Jordan  following his Baptism (Matthew 3) and went out into the desert to be tested by satan (Matthew 4).  Jesus passed the test by quoting scripture from Deuteronomy 6 and 8 (6:13, 6:16, and 8:3).

Moses changed the water of the Nile into blood (Exodus 7:20).
Jesus changed the purification water into wine (John 2:6-9), and then changed wine into His blood (Matthew 26:27-28). 
Jacob fooled his blind father Isaac into getting Esau’s blessing, by wearing hairy skins (Esau was the hairy brother) (Genesis 27).                                             In return, Jacob’s future father-in-law fooled Jacob into marrying his ugly daughter Leah, by hiding her face with veils (Genesis 29).

 Melchizidek, the King of Salem (King of Peace) offered bread and wine to God as worship (Genesis 14:18).
 Jesus, the King of Kings, at the Last Supper, offered consecrated bread and consecrated wine to God as worship (Mark 14:22-24).

In Ezekiel 9, God marked all of the believers in Jerusalem with a Tau, the last letter of the old Hebrew Alphabet (the last letter now is Omega), on their foreheads, in order to save them from destruction. A Tau is represented as T, or an incomplete cross. During Baptism, we are marked with the sign of the cross on our foreheads to save us from the destruction of Satan.

 Jesus Christ was born in the town of Bethlehem, which means “House of Bread”. His mother put him in a feeding trough (a manger) for a crib (Luke 2).
Jesus Christ later claimed to be the “Bread of Life” (John 6:48), and said that we had to “eat his body” to have life (John 6:53). At the Last Supper, Jesus consecrated a piece of bread and said – “This is my Body” (Mark 14:22).

 In the desert, God provided bread from Heaven (manna) to feed the Israelites (Exodus 16).
 In the book of John 6 , Jesus Christ said that He was the bread of life, and if we eat this bread, we shall live forever (John 6:48-50).

 In the Old Testament, the Ark of the Covenant contained 3 items – The Word of God (the 10 Commandments), manna (bread from heaven), and the rod of Aaron, which came back to life and re-sprouted (Hebrews 9:4).
  In the New Testament, the Blessed Virgin Mary’s womb contained Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, who is The Bread of Life, and who is a ruler with an iron rod that came back to life after being crucified ( Luke 1:31, John 6:48, Revelation 12:5).

In Psalm 22:1, David says “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Psalm 22:16 says that "They have pierced my hands and my feet". Psalm 22:18 also talks about casting lots for his clothes.
In the New Testament, Jesus Christ repeats "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me", after they pierce His hands and His feet. (Matthew 27:46) And the Roman soldiers cast lots for the clothes of Jesus (Matthew 27:35).

 In the Book of Wisdom, chapter 2, the plotters say that they want to torture and kill the one who claims to be the son of God, because if he really is the son of God, then God will save him.”
 In the New Testament, the murders of Jesus do torture and kill him for claiming to be the son of God, and utter these words – “If you are the son of God, then come down from that cross (Matthew 27:42).

  In Genesis 3, Eve, an immaculately created virgin,  says yes to Lucifer and allows Adam to bring sin into the world. Eve came forth from Adam.
 In the New Testament, Mary, an immaculately created virgin,  says yes to Gabriel, which allows Jesus to bring salvation to the world (Luke 1).  Jesus came forth from Mary.

 The book of Genesis starts out with the three words, “In the beginning”. It then goes through a series of next days to describe the creation of the world from nothing as well as the creation of new life. It talks about “the light” and the dark. On the seventh day, God rests.
The book of the Gospel of John also starts out with the three words, “In the beginning”. It then goes through a series of next days (John 1:29, 35, 43) to describe “the light of the world”, Jesus Christ, who leads us out of darkness and gives new life to the world. On the seventh day (the third day after the fourth day, John 2:1) there is a wedding feast, with Jesus creating wine from water.

In Exodus 12, the Jews celebrate the first Passover by killing a spotless lamb, and then they smear its blood over their door with a hyssop branch. They also had to eat bitter herbs. This saved their first born from the angel of death.
In John 19, Jesus Himself is sacrificed as the new spotless Passover lamb (Pilate said "I find no guilt in him (John 18:38)) and His blood now saves us from death. In John 10:7, Jesus says that he is the door for His sheep. The Roman soldier used a hyssop branch to give him bitter vinegar to drink.

In Luke 2:42-46, the 12 year old Jesus is nowhere to be found. After 3 days, Mary and Joseph find Jesus in the temple, preaching to the elders.
After the crucifixion, Jesus was dead for three days and nowhere to be found. Peter says that he was preaching to the spirits in prison (1 Peter 3:18-19). 
 
 In James 2:26, the bible says that faith without works is dead.
 In Matthew 25:31-46, at the final judgment, Jesus tells us all now exactly what those works are. 
 Joseph, in the Old Testament, was forced to go to Egypt in Genesis 37:28 (his brothers sold him as a slave).   God's purpose in this was so that Joseph, later on, would befriend the King (Pharaoh) and save Israel. Joseph received messages in dreams, and could interpret them.  Joseph's father was named Jacob.
Joseph, Mary’s betrothed, in Matthew 2:14, was forced to go to Egypt (to avoid Herod).  God's purpose in this was so that Joseph would save the King (Jesus) as well as Israel.  In Matthew 2:13, Joseph receives his message to go to Egypt in a dream.  Joseph's father was named Jacob.
In Matthew 26: 65, the high priest tore his robes in protest of Jesus proclaiming Himself to be the son of God.
In Matthew 27:51, following the murder of Jesus, God tore the curtain of the temple in two, from top to bottom.

In John 18:18ff, Peter denied Jesus 3 times beside a charcoal fire.
In John 21:9ff, Jesus asks Peter 3 times, beside a charcoal fire, if he loves him....
In  Genesis  3:18  -19,  God tells Adam in the garden that the ground shall bring thorns  and  thistles to him,  and  that by the sweat of his face he shall eat bread from the ground.
In 1 Corinthians  15:45,    St. Paul says that Jesus is the new Adam, bringing life into the world  instead of death.   At the  crucifixion,  Jesus,  the  Bread  of  Life (John 6), wears a crown of thorns after sweating blood in a garden.

In Exodus 24:18, Moses went up the mountain and entered the cloud of God. 
In Matthew 17:5, a cloud on the mountain enveloped Jesus.

In Exodus 31:18ff, Moses went up the mountain and brought down the Word of God.
In Matthew 5:1ff, Jesus, the Word of God made Flesh,  went up on the mountain and preached the Word of God (the Sermon on the mount).

In Exodus 34, Moses face shone so bright that everyone was afraid to look at him.
In Matthew 17, Jesus' face shone like the sun. The long dead Moses then appeared to him.

Moses wandered in the desert for 40 years (Numbers 32:13) after coming up out of the water of the Red Sea.
Jesus wandered in the desert for 40 days (Mark 1:13) after coming up out of the water of the Jordan River.

Eve became the mother of the living at the foot of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:20). 
NOTE** The cross was called a tree in  Acts 5:30.  In the passage above, the apostle John was standing in for the Church.

In Genesis 2:23, Adam names his mate "Woman". 
In the New Testament, Jesus always referred to Mary as "Woman".     
(NOTE** Just as Jesus is the new Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45), Mary is the new Eve).

In Luke 1:42, Elizabeth says to Mary - "Blessed is the fruit of your womb."
In Matthew 12:33, Jesus says that a tree is known by its fruit. 

In Luke 1:27, we learn that Mary is betrothed (not married) to Joseph.
In 1 Corinthians 7:36-38, Paul says that it is better to stay betrothed and not get married (have carnal relations).

In Genesis  2:7, God breathed on Adam to bring him to life. 
In John  20:22-23, Jesus breathed on the apostles to give them the gift of bringing spiritual life to others through confession.

In  Genesis 22,  Isaac carried wood up a hill that was to be used for his  sacrificial death.  His father Abraham was stopped from killing Isaac by God.  Abraham says that God Himself would provide the sacrificial lamb.
In  Matthew 27, Jesus carried wood up a hill (Golgotha) for his own sacrificial death.  Jesus is the Lamb of God who was sacrificed in our place.

In Matthew 27:26, Pontius Pilate released Barabbas, whose name means "Son of the Father" (bar Abbas).
Jesus, the real Son of THE Father, was put to death in his place.

In 2 Maccabees 6: 4-5, it says: "For the temple was filled with debauchery  and reveling by the Gentiles, who dallied with harlots and had intercourse with women within the sacred precincts, and besides brought in things for sacrifice that were unfit.  The altar was covered with abominable offerings which were forbidden by the laws. "
In 1 Corinthians 6:19ff, Paul says that our bodies are a temple  to the Holy Spirit, and we are to shun immorality and to glorify God in our bodies.

In Genesis 28:12, Jacob (Israel) says that he had a dream where angels were descending to earth and ascending to heaven on a ladder. 
In John 1:51, Jesus says  "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man."

In John 15:4, Jesus says, " Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it  abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
In John 6:56, Jesus tells us how to do that- "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.

In Genesis 9:22ff, Ham saw his father's (Noah's) nakedness. Noah awoke and was very upset at Ham, and placed a curse on Canaan, Ham's son. 
In Leviticus 20:11, the Bible says that to uncover your father's nakedness means that you have slept with your father's wife (your own mother).

In Genesis 37, Joseph is stripped of his garment by his own brothers and then sold into slavery for 20 pieces of silver.
Jesus was also sold by his own apostle (Judas) for 30 pieces of silver, and then stripped of his garment at the cross.

In Exodus 1:22, Pharoah orders that every son that is born to the Hebrews shall be drowned in the Nile.
In Exodus 12:29, God strikes down Pharoah's own son and the other first born Egyptians. In Exodus 14, Pharoah's male soldiers were all drowned in the Red Sea.

The second book of Maccabees, chapter 7, talks about a mother and her 7 sons being tortured and killed, one by one, by the evil king who had defiled the temple and wanted his captives to eat pork.  They refused to transgress the law, and paid the ultimate price. 
Hebrews 11:35 refers to this incident - "Women received their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, that they might rise again to a better life." 

In Exodus 32, Moses and the Levites slay 3,000 of their own people who worshipped the golden calf. 
At Pentecost in Acts 2, Peter and the apostles converted 3,000 people.

In John 12:24, Jesus said that unless a  grain of wheat  falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
In the Old Testament, the Feast of Pentecost was a harvest festival of the first fruits  (Exodus 23:16) that took place 50 days (7 weeks)  after Passover .   Jesus died during Passover, and 50 days later, on Pentecost, 3000 new souls were brought to Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:41).

In Isaiah 60:6, Isaiah predicts that those from Sheba will bring gold and frankincense  to the King, whom they will praise.                                      
       In Matthew 2:11, the three Wisemen bring gold (symbolizing royalty), frankincense (incense is used for worship), and myrhh (used for burial) and worship Jesus.

In 1 Kings 1:37-38, King Solomon, the son of King David, rides a mule while the people rejoice and proclaim him to be their new King.                               
In John 12:13-14 and Matthew 21:7-9,  Jesus rides into Jerusalem on an ass, while the people proclaim him to be the son of David and the King of Israel.

At the Passover in Exodus 12:5 the Jews had to eat an unblemished male lamb to be saved.                                                                                               
 In John 18:38, Pilate says of Jesus - "I find no guilt in Him". Jesus, the Lamb of God (John 1:29) then says in John 6:53 that we have to eat His flesh to have life in us (a reference to the reality of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist)

30 January, 2013

Daily Gospel

Sunday, 27 January 2013
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C

St. Angela Merici, Virgin (c. 1470-1540)



Commentary of the day
Saint Ambrose : "Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing"

Reading

Lk 1:1-4.4:14-21.


Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and ministers of the word have handed them down to us,
I too have decided, after investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down in an orderly sequence for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received.  Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region.
            He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all. He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:  The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord."
        Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, "Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing."


Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB



Commentary of the day

Saint Ambrose (c.340-397), Bishop of Milan and Doctor of the Church
Commentary on Psalm 1, §33 ; CSEL 64, 28-30

"Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing"

Drink first of the Old Testament so as to drink afterward of the New. If
you do not drink of the first you will not be able to quench your thirst at
the second. Drink of the first to take your thirst away, of the second to
staunch it completely... Drink of the cup of both the Old Testament and the
New for in these two you drink Christ. Take away your thirst with Christ
for he is the vine, he is the rock that caused water to gush forth, he is
the spring of life. Drink Christ for he is “the stream whose runlets
gladden the city of God”, he is peace and “from his breast flow rivers of
living water”. Drink Christ to quench your thirst with the blood of your
redemption and the Word of God. The Old Testament is his word and so is the
New. We drink Holy Scripture and we eat it and then the eternal Word
descends into the veins of the spirit and the life of the soul: “Not by
bread alone does man live, but by every word that comes forth from the
mouth of God”. Therefore, quench your thirst with this Word yet in its
proper order: first drink it in the Old Testament and then, without
delaying, in the New. He himself says almost insistently: “People who walk
in darkness, see this great light; you who dwell in a land of death, a
light has shone upon you”. So drink without delay and a great light will
enlighten you: no longer the ordinary light of day, whether that of the sun
or the moon, but the light that casts out the shadow of death.(Biblical
references : Jn 15,1; 1Co 10,4; Ps 36[37],10; 45[46],5; Eph 2,14; Jn 7,38;
Dt 8,3; Mt 4,4; Is 9,1 LXX; Mt 4,16; Lk 1,79)

20 January, 2013

Daily Gospel

Sunday, 20 January 2013
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C

Week of prayer for Christian unity
St. Sebastian, Martyr (c. 257-c. 288)



Commentary of the day
Saint Maximus of Turin : The new wine of true joy

Reading

Jn 2:1-11.


There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.
Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.
When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine."
(And) Jesus said to her, "Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come."
His mother said to the servers, "Do whatever he tells you."
Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons.
Jesus told them, "Fill the jars with water." So they filled them to the brim.
Then he told them, "Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter." So they took it.
And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from (although the servers who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom
and said to him, "Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now."
Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.


Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB



Commentary of the day

Saint Maximus of Turin (?-c.420), Bishop
Sermon 23 ; PL 57, 274

The new wine of true joy

It is written that our Lord went to the wedding feast to which he had been
invited. So the Son of God went to that wedding feast to sanctify by his
presence the marriage he had already instituted. He went to a wedding of
the old law to choose a bride for himself among the pagans, who would
remain for ever a virgin. He, who was not born of human wedlock, went to
the wedding. He went there, not to participate in a joyful feast, but to
make himself known by means of a truly wonderful miracle. He went there,
not to drink wine but to give it. For as soon as the guests lacked wine
blessed Mary said to him: “They have no wine”. Jesus, seemingly annoyed,
answered her: “Woman, what do you want of me?”... By responding that: “My
hour has not yet come” he was surely announcing the glorious hour of his
Passion, or else the wine shed for the salvation and life of all. Mary
asked for a temporal favor whereas Christ was preparing an eternal
joy.However, our good Lord did not hold back from granting small things
while awaiting the coming of the great. Blessed Mary, because she was truly
the mother of the Lord, saw in her mind what was about to take place and
knew beforehand the Lord's intention. That is why she carefully warned the
servants in these words: “Do whatever he tells you”. His holy mother most
certainly knew that her son and Lord's words of reproach did not contain
the feelings of an angered man but a mystery of compassion... And now,
see!, suddenly those waters began to gain strength, to take on color, to
shed a good odor, to acquire taste and, at the same time, to completely
change their nature. And this transformation of water into another
substance testified to the presence of the Creator, for no one apart from
the one who created water out of nothing could have transformed it into
something else.

13 January, 2013

Daily Gospel

Sunday, 13 January 2013
The Baptism of the Lord - Feast

St Hilary of Poitiers, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (c. 315- c. 367),  St. Veronica of Binasco, Religious (144-1497)



Commentary of the day
Saint John Chrysostom : "The holy Spirit descended upon Jesus in bodily form like a dove"

Reading

Lk 3:15-16.21-22.


The people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Christ.
John answered them all, saying, "I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire.
After all the people had been baptized and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, heaven was opened
and the holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."


Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB



Commentary of the day

Saint John Chrysostom (c.345-407), priest at Antioch then Bishop of Constantinople, Doctor of the Church
Homilies on Saint Matthew's Gospel, no.12 ; PG 57, 201

"The holy Spirit descended upon Jesus in bodily form like a dove"

Let us consider the great miracle that took place following the Savior's
baptism; it is prelude to what would shortly follow. Not the Paradise of
old but heaven itself opens: “After Jesus was baptized... behold, the
heavens were opened” (Mt 3,16). Why did heaven open when Jesus Christ was
baptized? To teach that the same thing invisibly happens at your own
baptism: at that moment God calls you to your homeland in heaven and
invites you to have nothing further in common with earth... If we do not
now see the same signs nevertheless we receive the same graces of which
these signs were the symbol.Then a dove was seen descending: it showed John
the Baptist and the Jews that Jesus was the Son of God. It would also teach
each one of us that the holy Spirit comes down on our soul at the moment of
baptism. It no longer comes in visible form because we no longer need it
to: faith is enough now...Why does the Holy Spirit appear in the form of a
dove? Because the dove is gentle and pure and the Holy Spirit is a spirit
of gentleness and peace. This dove also reminds us of an event we read
about in the Old Testament: when the earth was inundated by the flood and
the whole human race in danger of perishing, the dove appeared to announce
the end of the disaster; it carried an olive branch bearing the good news
of the restoration of peace in the world. Now all this was a prefiguration
of of what was to come... When all was lost, deliverance and renewal came
about. What formerly took place through the deluge of water now takes place
today as if by a deluge of grace and mercy... It is no longer only one man
that the dove calls to leave the ark to repopulate the earth; it draws all
men to heaven. Instead of an olive branch, it brings to all humankind the
dignity of adoption as children of God.