Archive for December, 2009

“Learning to control our finances is an essential part of maturity. When we were children, our parents took care of all the financial arrangements, but as adults, the responsibility becomes ours. All too often, we find ourselves in debt because we confuse our wants with our needs. We begin to believe we can buy happiness, but happiness is only found in relationships–particularly in our relationship with God.

If you are feeling restless and unfulfilled, don’t run up your credit cards to fill empty places in your soul. Instead, use your financial resources to take care of your needs and then ask God to help you discover what’s missing from your life. It may be friendship. It may be intellectual stimulation. It may be love. Whatever it is, however, two things are certain: first, you won’t find it in any mall and second, only after you ask can God help make it a reality in your life.”

Koenig-Bricker, Woodeene 365 Saints: Your Daily Guide to the Wisdom and Wonder of their Lives by (New York: Harper San Francisco, 1995), October 16 entry.

Lord, I thank you that in your love you have taken from me all earthly riches, and that you now clothe and feed me through the kindness of others.

Lord, I thank you, that since you have taken from me the sight of my eyes, you serve me now with the eyes of others.

Lord, I thank you that since you have taken away the power of my hands and my heart, you serve me by the hands and hearts of others.

Lord, I pray for them. Reward them for it in your heavenly love, that they may faithfully serve and please you till they reach a happy end.”

St. Mechtilde of Magdeburg (c. 1210-1285)

Woodeene Koenig-Bricker in Prayers of the Saints (New York: HarperCollins, 1996) 80-81.

Falling under the wrath of King Henry III, who wanted one of his own toadies elevated to the position of Bishop of Chichester, Saint Richard was reduced to a virtual outcast in his own diocese. He might have become bitter and angry, but, as his famous prayer demonstrates, he refused to focus on his misfortune, concentrating always on his gratitude:

Thank you, Lord Jesus Christ,
for all the benefits and blessings
which you have given me,
for all the pains and insults
which you have borne for me.
Merciful Friend, Brother and Redeemer,
May I know you more clearly,
Love you more dearly,
and follow you more nearly,
Day by day.

Saint Richard of Chichester (1197-1253)

Woodeene Koenig-Bricker in Prayers of the Saints (New York: HarperCollins, 1996) 5.

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. John 14:16-17

“Spirit of truth,
you are a reward to the saints,
the comforter of souls,
light in the darkness,
riches to the poor,
treasure to lovers,
food for the hungry,
comfort to the wanderer;
to sum up,
you are the one in whom all treasures are contained.”
St. Mary Magdalen Dei Pazzi (1566-1607)

Woodeene Koenig-Bricker in Prayers of the Saints (New York: HarperCollins, 1996) 105.

“St. Nicholas of Bari, the bishop of Myra in the fourth century, is the real Santa Claus. Exactly how a kindly cleric from present-day Turkey got associated with an overgrown, red-suited elf from the North Pole is hard to figure.

The real Santa Claus was well known for his kindness and generosity, especially to the poor. One legend says that he tossed bags of gold in the open window of a poor man’s house to help with his daughter’s dowries. The gold is supposed to have landed in stockings dangling on the corners of the beds, which would account for the custom of hanging stockings for Santa Claus to fill. At any rate, St. Nicholas was linked with gift giving, and, in many countries, children still put out their shoes on his feast day to be filled with presents.

Santa Claus has become a symbol for the Christmas holidays, but Santa is a commercial contrivance. St. Nicholas, the real Santa, is just that–real. As we move into the holiday season with its excitement and bustle, let us take a few minutes to remember that love and joy won’t magically appear unless, like the real Santa, we make them happen.

How can I be a St. Nicholas to someone needy this Christmas season?”

January 6 entry of 365 Saints: Your Daily Guide to the Wisdom and Wonder of their Lives, ed. by Woodeene Koenig-Bricker (New York: Harper San Francisco, 1995).

“How much money would it take for your to feel comfortable? Some studies have indicated that no matter what you earn, your so called comfort zone is just a little bit higher. Most of us seem to believe we would finally feel content if we earned a few thousand dollars more each year.

Bishop John Neumann, the fourth bishop of Philadelphia, understood the fallacy of such thinking. He took the vow of poverty he made as a Redemptorist priest so literally that he gave away virtually everything he owned. Once, when he arrived home with wet feet, someone suggested he change his shoes. He answered that if he did, it would be to put his left shoe on his right foot and vice versa since he owned only one pair. At his funeral, he was clad in a new suit of clothes for the first time in many years.

St. John Neumann did not choose a life of poverty because he enjoyed deprivation. He chose to divest himself of material possessions because he understood that the real treasures in life can never be purchased.

When we value ourselves merely for what we own, we will always be poor. Only when we realize that God values us for what we are, not what we have, do we become rich beyond measure.”

January 5 entry of 365 Saints: Your Daily Guide to the Wisdom and Wonder of their Lives, ed. by Woodeene Koenig-Bricker (New York: Harper San Francisco, 1995).

“But who are these, Lady, that are white and round, and yet, do not fit into the building of the tower?”

She answered and said, “How long will you be foolish and stupid, and continue to put every kind of question and understand nothing. These are those who have faith indeed, but they have also the riches of this world. When, therefore, tribulation comes, on account of their riches and business they deny the Lord.”

I answered and said to her, “When, then, will they be useful for the building, Lady?”

“When the riches that now seduce them have been circumscribed, then will they be of use to God. For as a round stone cannot become square unless portions be cut off and cast away, so also those who are rich in this world cannot be useful to the Lord unless their riches be cut down. Learn this first from your own case. When you were rich, you were useless; but now you are useful and fit for life. Be ye useful to God; for you also will be used as one of these stones.”

Shepherd of Hermas in Visions in The Apostolic Fathers (Chicago: Moody, 2009) 178-179.

“On Christmas Day the young men go out to fish. All the fish they catch are sacred to the widows and the orphans and to the poor, and are distributed among them according to their necessities.

There is a tradition among the people of the Western Isles that Christ required Peter to row 707 strokes straight out from the shore when He commanded him to go and procure the fish containing the tribute-money (cf. Matthew 17:24-27).

Following this tradition, the old men of Uist require the young men to row 707 strokes from the land before casting their lines on Christmas Day. And whatever fish they get are cordially given to the needy as a tribute in the name of Christ, King of the sea, and of Peter, king of fishermen.”

FISHING BLESSING (BEANNACHD IASGAICH)
The day of light has come upon us,
Christ is born of the Virgin.
In His name I sprinkle the water
Upon every thing within my court.

Thou King of deeds and powers above,
Thy fishing blessing pour down on us.

I will sit me down with an oar in my grasp,
I will row me seven hundred and seven [strokes].

I will cast down my hook,
The first fish which I bring up

In the name of Christ, King of the elements,
The poor shall have it at his wish.

And the king of fishers, the brave Peter,
He will after it give me his blessing.

Ariel, Gabriel, and John,
Raphael benign, and Paul,

Columba, tender in every distress,
And Mary fair, the endowed of grace.

Encompass ye us to the fishing-bank of ocean,
And still ye to us the crest of the waves.

Be the King of kings at the end of our course,
Of lengthened life and of lasting happiness.

Be the crown of the King from the Three on high,
Be the cross of Christ adown to shield us,

The crown of the King from the Three above,
The cross of Christ adown to shield us.

Alexander Carmichael in The Carmina Gadelica (1900) 318-321.

Father, give me humility, meekness, chastity, patience and charity.
Father, teach me goodness, knowledge, and discipline.
Father, give me your love together with your grace and I will be rich enough.
My God, my Jesus, and my all.

Anthony Mary Claret (1807-1870) Archbishop of Cuba

Woodeene Koenig-Bricker in Prayers of the Saints (New York: HarperCollins, 1996) 53-54.

“In all good works, be careful lest you be stirred by desire for human praise. You ought to be praised in your good works, but insofar as you do them, you ought not to expect human praises. The human tongue may praise you, but desire praise from God alone. And thus it may come about that while you do not seek human praise, God may be praised in your deeds. Recall how much the Lord forbids us to do our righteous works to garner human praise, saying, “take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly father” (Matthew 6:1).

Therefore, when he says that we should look out lest we do our righteous deeds before human beings, that we may be seen by them, and again he commands that our light shine before human beings (Matthew 5:16), is he not commanding contrary things? Certainly not, but he commands that good deeds be done in such a way that we wish, not that we ourselves but that God be praised in our works. For the apostle too avoided human glory in his works but sought God’s glory. So he says, writing to the Thessalonians, “Nor, indeed, did we ever appeart with flattering speech, as you know, or with a pretext for greed–God is witness–nor did we seek praise from human beings, either from you or from others.”

Fulgentius of Ruspe (468-533) Letters 2.35 in the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture vol. IX, ed. by Peter Gorday (Downers Grove: IVP, 2000) 64-65.