"When are you to bless the Lord?

[Weedy]

"When are you to bless the Lord?

"When are you to 'bless the Lord?' When he showers blessings on you?
When earthly goods are plentiful? When you have a plethora of grain,
oil, wine, gold, silver...--while your mortal body remains healthy,
uninjured and free from disease; while everything that is born on your
estate is growing well, and nothing is snatched away by untimely
death; while every kind of happiness floods your home and you have all
you want in profusion? Is it only then that you are to bless the Lord?
No, but 'at all times.' So you are to bless him equally when from time
to time, or because the Lord God wishes to discipline you, these good
things let you down or are taken from you, when there are fewer births
or the already-born slip away. These things happen, and their
consequence is poverty, need, hardship, disappointment and temptation.
But you sang, 'I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall be
in my mouth always,' so when the Lord gives you these good things,
bless him, and when he takes them away, bless him. He it is who gives,
and he it is who takes away, but he does not take himself away from
anyone who blesses him.
--by Augustine of Hippo (excerpt from EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS 34.3)

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July 30th - Bl. Archangelo of Calatafimi

d. 1460
Archangelo was born, a member of the family of Placentini, in Sicily,
about the year 1390. From his childhood he was of a religious and
retiring disposition and it caused no surprise when in his early
manhood he withdrew himself to a cave, there to live in solitude. As
so often happens, many people invaded his retreat to seek his advice
and conversation, and when it was said that miracles had taken place
there, they came in greater numbers.

This distressed Archangelo; his charity was evoked by the needs of his
visitors, but his humility represented him to himself as ill-equipped
to help them. So he removed to Alcamo; here he was asked to revive and
organize a decayed hospice for the poor, which he undertook, but when
it was firmly re-established he once more returned to the solitary
life.

It happened that Pope Martin V saw fit to order all the hermits in
Sicily, of which there were many, to return to the world or to accept
the religious life in an approved order. Obedient to this decree, Bl.
Archangelo went to Palermo and there received the habit of the Friars
Minor of the Observance from Bl. Matthew of Girgenti. After profession
he was sent to the hospital at Alcamo to establish it as a house of
the order, which was done. Archangelo accepted the Rule of St. Francis
in all its primitive austerity, and he was withdrawn from Alcamo to be
minister provincial of the Sicilian Observants. In that office he was
able to come to the help of Bl. Matthew when, after resigning the see
of Girgenti, he was shown the door by the father guardian who had
succeeded Archangelo at Alcamo. Worn out with penance and work for
souls, Archangelo died on April io, 1460, and Pope Gregory XVI
confirmed his cultus in 1836.

The fullest source of information is the volume of Fr A. Gioia, Il
beato Arcangelo Placenza da Calatafimi (1926). The author has been
able to use the materials submitted for the confirmatio cultus, and
also a rare biography of the beatus by P. Longo printed in 1804. See
also Leon, Auréole Séraphique (Eng, trans.), vol. ii, pp. 59-64 .


Saint Quote:
He who is kind is free, even if he is a slave. He who is evil is a
slave, even if he is king!
-- Saint Augustine of Hippo

Bible Quote:
If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of
charity, if any society of the spirit, if any bowels of commiseration:
[2] Fulfill ye my joy, that you may be of one mind, having the same
charity, being of one accord, agreeing in sentiment. [3] Let nothing
be done through contention, neither by vain glory: but in humility,
let each esteem others better than themselves: [4] Each one not
considering the things that are his own, but those that are other
men's. [5] For let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ
Jesus: [Philippians 2:1-5] DRV


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An offering to God the Father
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque:

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Blood, the Passion, and the
Death of Jesus Christ; the sorrows of Mary most Holy and of
Joseph in satisfaction for my sins, in aid of the holy souls of
Purgatory, for the needs of Holy Mother Church, and the
conversion of sinners. Amen.

Eternal Father, I offer unto Thee the infinite satisfaction which
Jesus rendered to Thy justice in behalf of sinners upon the tree
of the Cross; and I pray that Thou wouldst make the merits of
His Precious Blood available to all guilty souls to whom sin
has brought death; may they rise again to the life of grace and
glorify Thee for ever.

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the fervent devotion of the Sacred
Heart of Jesus in satisfaction for the lukewarmness and
cowardice of Thy chosen people, imploring Thee by the
burning love which made Him suffer death, that it may please
Thee to rekindle their hearts now so lukewarm in Thy service,
and to set them on fire with Thy love, that they may love Thee
for ever.

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the submission of Jesus to Thy
will, and I ask of Thee, through His merits, the fullness of all
grace and the accomplishment of all Thy holy will. Blessed by
God.