Searching for the greatest treasure of all

[Rich]

Searching for the greatest treasure of all

The pearl of great price also tells us a similar lesson (Matthew
13:45). Pearls in the ancient world came to represent the supremely
valuable. Why would a merchant sell everything for a single pearl of
peerless value? No doubt because he was attracted to what he thought
was the greatest treasure he could possess for himself. On another
occasion Jesus told his disciples, "do not throw your pearls before
swine" (Matthew 7:6). Beautiful unblemished pearls were intended to
enhance the beauty and value of those who wore them. Do you recognize
and value the hidden treasure of God's kingdom and the peerless pearl
which the Lord Jesus offers to all who believe in him?

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9 August – Saint Cándida María de Jesús

Religious Sister and Founder – born on 31 May 1845 in Andoáin,
Guipúzcoa, Spain as Juana Josefa Cipitria y Barriola and died on 9
August 1912 in Salamanca, Spain of natural causes – born Juana Josefa
Cipitria y Barriola – was a Spanish professed religious and the
founder of the Daughters of Jesus. The order – founded in 1871 – was
under Jesuit direction from her spiritual director and was involved
with the education of children in Salamanca though expanded during her
lifetime.

Mother Candida, whose name was Juana Josefa Cipitria y Barriola, was
born to a poor family. As a young girl she left her land to work in
Castile in order to help her family financially. Gifted with a great
sensitivity to the neediest, she was not indifferent to the situations
of those living nearby. Therefore, even at the risk of losing her job,
she would say, “Where there is no room for the poor, neither is there
room for me”.

Her desire to do God’s will was the sole driving force in her life. On
2 April 1869, in the church of “The Rosarillo” in Valladolid, before
the altar of the Holy Family, she asked the Lord once again to make
His will clear to her and God more clearly expressed His desire “to
found a Congregation with the name of Daughters of Jesus, dedicated to
the salvation of souls, through education and instruction of children
and youth”.

It was in Salamanca on 8 December 1871, when, with five other women,
her adventure began with nothing more than the trust born of the
knowledge that what one undertakes is “what God wants”. In this manner
and with the name of Candida Maria de Jesus, this woman of scant
education and scarce material means founded the Congregation of the
Daughters of Jesus in one of the most important university cities of
the 19th century.

The exclusion of women and the economically weaker classes from the
fields of education moved Mother Candida to begin this path. And very
soon what began in Salamanca extended throughout the Spanish
geography. Later, on 3 October 1911, the first Daughters of Jesus set
out for Brazil, fulfilling her dream:  “I would go to the ends of the
earth in search of souls”.

On 9 August 1912, Mother Candida, simple and courageous woman who made
her life a constant surrender to the will of God, died in Salamanca.
St Pope John Paul II, in Rome, Beatified her on 12 May 1996 and Pope
Benedict XVI Canonised her on 17 October 2010.

Today, the Congregation is present in 19 countries, at the service of
others and with special attention to the most needy.

https://anastpaul.com/2019/08/09/


Saint Quote:
 Few souls understand what God would accomplish in them if they were
to abandon themselves unreservedly to Him and if they were to allow
His grace to mold them accordingly.
--St. Ignatius Loyola

Bible Quote:
He who keeps his mouth and his tongue
    keeps himself out of trouble. Proverbs 21:23  RSVCE

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Reflection and Prayer from the Imitation of Christ

 Obedience
We must not be satisfied with exteriorly submitting to obedience and
in things that are easy, but we must obey with our whole heart, and in
things the most difficult. For the greater the difficulty, the greater
also is the merit of obedience. Can we refuse to submit to man for
God’s sake, when God, for love of us, submits to man, even to His very
executioners?

   Jesus Christ was willingly obedient during His whole life, and even
unto the death of the Cross; and am I unwilling to spend my life in
the exercise of obedience, and to make it my cross and my merit?
Independence belongs to God, who has made man dependent upon others,
that his subordination may be to him the means of his sanctification.
I will therefore form myself upon the model of my submissive,
dependent, and obedient Saviour, and dispose of nothing in myself, not
even of my own will.

Prayer:
O my Saviour, Who, in obedience to Thy Father, wast conceived in the
womb of Mary, Who didst go down to Nazareth, and wast subject to Thy
parents for thirty years, Who wouldst be born and live, and die in
obedience, induce us to follow Thine example, to obey Thee in all
things in the persons of our superiors, who hold Thy place in our
regard. Grant that, doing willingly what is ordained us, and
endeavoring to believe it best, we may spend our whole lives in
continual obedience, and thus secure for ourselves Thy grace in time,
and Thy glory for all eternity. Amen.