The Holy Spirit in our lives:

[Weedy]

The Holy Spirit in our lives:

"The Spirit restores paradise to us and the way to heaven and adoption
as children of God; he instills confidence that we may call God truly
Father and grants us the grace of Christ to be children of the light
and to enjoy eternal glory. In a word, he bestows the fullness of
blessings in this world and the next; for we may contemplate now in
the mirror of faith the promised things we shall someday enjoy. If
this is the foretaste, what must the reality be? If these are the
first fruits, what must be the harvest?"
(From the treatise by Basil on The Holy Spirit)

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June 12th - St. John of Sahagun, Confessor
(Also known as John of Saint Facundo)

Feast 11 June
12 June (General Roman Calendar, 1729-1969)

Born at Sahagun, León, Spain, c. 1430 (?); died in Salamanca, June 11,
1479; beatified in 1601; canonized in 1690.

When we see others doing wrong, should we be silent or speak out? We
can always speak out to God, of course, and ask Him to enlighten the
wrongdoers. Cases differ, also, and in particular instances where our
intervention may accomplish nothing, we may keep silence so long as
our silence cannot be interpreted as giving approval. But there are
some occasions when duty demands that we confront our neighbor,
whatever the cost to ourselves. John of Sahagun, as a reforming
missionary, had a particular obligation to call a spade a spade, as we
shall see.

John was born in the ancient Spanish kingdom of Leon. His father, a
man of influence, had him educated by the Benedictine monks of the
town. Then, when he was still a young boy, he secured for him a small
church benefice. A benefice was a church position that had an
endowment attached, so that the holder of the benefice would receive
its annual income. Benefices might be chaplaincies, pastorates,
abbacies, and even bishoprics; and to win such appointments a man did
not need to be a priest, only a lesser cleric.

How, then, you will ask, could these beneficed clerics carry on their
job as chaplains, pastors, abbots, or bishops? They couldn’t, by
themselves; they would have to pay priests or bishops to do the
spiritual work in return for a slight salary. As you can see, this was
a regrettable financial abuse, and one fully corrected only during the
Catholic Reformation.

John received several other such benefices; but he was an earnest
young man, and after ordination to the priesthood in 1445, he gave up
all but one small chapel benefice. Furthermore, in that chapel he did
all the work himself; he said daily Mass, and devoted himself to
teaching and preaching, meanwhile living a life of austere self-denial
and prayer.

After a while, realizing his need for a better education in theology,
he took a four year course at the University of Salamanca. Once he had
his theological degree, he began a campaign of preaching that quickly
won him a reputation as a spiritual guide. Along the line, however, he
was stricken with gallstones. Facing an operation, he vowed that if he
recovered he would join the Augustinian friars. The operation was
successful, and the Augustinians welcomed with open arms this very
promising candidate.

Father John then launched a reformist program in Salamanca that proved
very successful. It succeeded, not simply because he himself was well
informed, wise, and eloquent, but because he upheld in his own life
the high ideas that he preached to others. God granted to him also
many striking spiritual gifts: an almost ecstatic devotion to the
Blessed Sacrament, for instance; and an ability to read the
consciences of those who confessed to him.

Here, then, was a man whose duty, like that of St. John the Baptist,
was to tell off sinners for their waywardness. As we recall from the
case of St. John the Baptist, straight talk can win enemies, and Friar
John found this out in more than one instance. But he was no respecter
of persons, and when there was need to tell off, he told off.

Preaching once at Alba, for example, he denounced rich landlords who
oppressed their poor tenants. The Duke of Alba was so infuriated by
the sermon that he sent two men to kill St. John. When the pair met
the preacher, however, they suddenly felt remorse, told him of their
awful assignment, and begged his forgiveness. At another place, where
he rebuked some women for their loose life, the women started to stone
him. Fortunately, he was rescued by a troop of police. At Salamanca
itself, John succeeded in persuading a prominent man to break off a
sinful alliance. The woman scorned would not be appeased, although the
charge that he died from poison administered by her was never proved.

Yes, we do have a duty in charity at times to correct evil in others,
come what may. We will not normally succeed, however, unless we have
first corrected the evil in ourselves.

By his fearless preaching, John effected profound change in the social
life of Salamanca; for this he won the popular acclamation of apostle
of Salamanca. Soon after his death, miracles and pilgrimages occurred
at his tomb. His relics survive in a feretory in the cathedral of his
adopted city of which he is patron. In art, he is portrayed with a
host in his hand in memory of his devotion to the Eucharist .
–Father Robert


Saint Quote:
Christ, the Master of humility, manifests His Truth only to the humble
and hides Himself from the proud.
--St. Vincent Ferrer

Bible Quote:
But to those who did accept him [Jesus] he gave power to become
children of God, to those who believed in his name who were born not
from human stock or human desire or human will but from God himself.
[John 1:12-13]


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Prayer for the help of the Holy Spirit

O God, Send forth your Holy Spirit;
into my heart--that I may perceive,
into my mind--that I may remember,
and into my soul--that I may meditate.
Inspire me to speak with piety,
holiness, tenderness, and mercy.
Teach, guide, and direct my thoughts
and senses from the beginning to the end.
May your grace ever help and correct me,
and may I be strengthened now
with wisdom from on high,
for the sake of your infinite mercy.
--St. Anthony of Padua