December Decorations that can illuminate our hearts with nourishment

     It might be strange to bring you a story of baseball in December, but clear away the snow and open your heart for the diamond game story we bring you today is timeless as Hall of Fame great and Corporal Works of Mercy crusader Roberto Clemente may have discovered when he entered the pearly gates. We also bring you a short, whimsical bit on things or situations that we may regard as truths but more often fall in line with suppositions. For the vignettes, A Grace-full game! and Simple finite truths!, click on DECEMBER DECORATIONS THAT ENHANCE FOOD FOR THOUGHT APPETEASERS

      Today's food for thought is a potpourri of seriousness and whimsy, the former is the first story which deals with baseball in the clouds as sent to us via e-mail by GDS. Even though baseball season is over, we couldn't resist bringing you this bit of wisdom as free agents continue to break the bank of owners and the ticket-buying public while missing the real point which Hall of Fame great Roberto Clemente might have discovered after he left this earth several years ago. Following is a hypothetical game that strikes home with an important point. The second part leans to the whimsy as we bring you seventeen truths - or suppositions that are truly finite brought to us by NH via e-mail. .

A Grace-full game!

      Roberto Clemente was caught up in the Spirit where he and the Lord stood by to observe a baseball game just outside of Heaven. The Lord's team was playing satan's team. The Lord's team was at bat, the score was tied zero to zero, and it was the bottom of the 9th inning with two outs. They continued to watch as a batter, whose name was Love, stepped up to the plate. Love swung at the first pitch and hit a single, because Love never fails.

      The next batter was named Faith, who also got a single because Faith works with Love. The next batter up was named Godly Wisdom. Satan wound up and threw the first pitch; Godly Wisdom looked it over and let it pass, because Godly Wisdom doesn't swing at satan's pitches. Ball one.

      Three more pitches and Godly Wisdom walked, because Godly Wisdom never swings at satan's throws. The bases are loaded.

      The Lord then turned to Roberto and told him He was now going to bring in His star player. Up to the plate stepped Grace. Bob said he sure didn't look like much! Satan's whole team relaxed when they saw Grace. Thinking he had won the game, satan wound up and fired his first pitch. To the shock of everyone, Grace hit the ball harder than anyone had ever seen.

      But satan wasn't worried; his center fielder, the Prince of the Air, let very few get by. He went up for the ball, but it went right through his glove, hit him on the head and sent him crashing to the ground; then the ball continued over the fence for a grand slam! The Lord's team won.

      The Lord then asked Roberto if he knew why Love, Faith and Godly Wisdom could get on base but couldn't win the game? Roberto answered that he didn't know why. The Lord explained, "If your love, faith and wisdom had won the game you would have thought you had done it by yourself.

      Love, faith and wisdom will get you on base, but only My Grace can get you home. My Grace is the one thing satan cannot stop. "God's grace is truly sufficient!

Simple finite truths!

1. Don't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things.

2. One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor.

3. One nice thing about egotists: They don't talk about other people.

. 4. To be intoxicated is to feel sophisticated but not be able to say it.

5. Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

6. The older you get, the better you realize you were.

7. I doubt, therefore I might be.

8. Age is a very high price to pay for maturity.

9. Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.

10. Women like silent men, they think they're listening.

11. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.

12. A fool and his money are soon partying.

13. Do pediatricians play miniature golf on Wednesdays?

14. Before they invented drawing boards, what did they go back to?

15. Do infants lie in infancy as much as adults do in adultery.

16. If all the world is a stage, where is the audience sitting?

17. If the #2 pencil is the most popular, why is it still #2?

"I need your unity of mind and heart, your willingness to be My humble instruments and My innocent victims in order to fulfill Scripture and bring My Mother's Heart to triumph."

      Jesus Christ pulls no punches in His Message #299 to the Hidden Flower of the Immaculate Heart at the beginning of Lent 1993 in which He chastises those who strive to defeat His mission by dividing through attacks on His messengers. He asks His faithful ones " to cease all rumors, gossiping and slander" which cause confusion, doubt and contribute to His adversary satan's scheme. This message is just as timely today as some continue to malign messengers and Medjugorje. Sadly, they do not realize they are playing right into the evil one's hands. His Blessed Mother Mary precedes her Divine Son's Message with Message #298 in which she pleads with her children to root out pride and to be obedient to the Church. She weeps at the destruction so many do by attacking others and she warns that this deters her Immaculate Heart from triumphing sooner. For these two powerful Messages, click on "I SOLEMNLY TELL YOU..."

Messages Two Hundred Ninety-eight and Two Hundred Ninety-nine

      Beloved Hidden Flower, how I love and bless you. How I long to pour out graces upon all of my little ones, but so few ask.

      My dear children, in this the Year of Tears as the Hour of Great Sorrow approaches, I ask each of you to examine your lives and to recognize how much pride exists in each one of you. O! You do not recognize pride, for so often satan's lies confuse you and pride becomes blurred and you justify it.

      If you would be holy, if you would be strong in your true faith, alive with hope and animated by Divine Love, then all pride must be acknowledged and rooted out.

      Begin this Holy Season of Lent by prayer from the heart. I will help all who ask. Seek from the Holy Spirit true enlightenment so that you may recognize that which is pride. Pride prevents you from being united to the Divine Will. Pride causes only division, confusion, doubt and hatred among men.

      It is pride to reject God's messages given through His chosen messengers. You must first and always read and discern the message through the grace of the Holy Spirit. In this way you shall recognize that it comes from God through His poor, miserable, weak instruments. In this way Divine Light allows the soul to "hear" God's message, while blinding the human eye from seeing the faults of the messengers. God calls those whom He chooses, and He alone brings good fruit from His willing instruments.

      My little ones, I solemnly tell you in these days that pride is destroying the unity which I desire for all of my little ones. O! How I weep at the slanderous attacks made by one against the other; these attacks come from the evil one and serve only to push forward satan's plan and hold back the Triumph of my Immaculate Heart.

      Therefore, root out every instance of pride. Be humble, obedient little children and the good fruits of the messages shall be the sign of their Divine Origin.

      In this Holy Season of Lent I ask all of my little ones to practice mortification by speaking very little and then only when necessary in charity. I exhort all to pray much and grow silent within that God might speak to each one of you.

      My time to be among you is swiftly coming to a close. You must heed my motherly warning and strive for great holiness. Love as my Divine Son loved, and be unafraid, for God shall not abandon those whose hearts are little and humble.

      I love and bless you. Thank you for responding to my Call!

      Beloved Hidden Flower of My Mother's Immaculate Heart, I am with you.

      I, Jesus Christ, say to all of My children everywhere that you do not live by My Mother's Messages. Thus, even among many who are striving to promote the messages, the evil one has entered. Now, where only unity, inspired Divine Love, should exist there is disunity. Now many of My children have placed themselves in the role of judge, and have singled out certain of My chosen ones to attack, degrade and slander.

      I ask each of you who have given your hearts to Me through My Mother's Immaculate Heart to cease all rumors, gossiping and slander. Rather, now you must all come to Me in the Blessed Sacrament, as humble, repentant children and seek forgiveness. How quickly I shall grant it, for now you must be united in your mission, which is to persevere in the True Faith by causing My Mother's messages to be lived and spread throughout the world.

      I solemnly tell you not one among you is of more importance than another. I need your unity of mind and heart, your willingness to be My humble instruments and My innocent victims in order to fulfill Scripture and bring My Mother's Heart to triumph.

      Come to Me, your Lord and God, and I shall grant to you that peace and unity which has been ripped apart by the evil one's schemes. Pray, My children. Pray very much and speak only when prompted by the Holy Spirit. In this way you are secure in the Refuge of My Sacred Heart.

      Love Me, My children, for I am crucified every day in countless ways. Let your unity comfort Me, Who Am your God, your Jesus Who loves you.

      I bless you and give you peace. Please listen to My Mother, who prepares you!

     Today is the First Wednesday of Advent while tomorrow we celebrate the feast of the Jesuit missionary priest Saint Francis Xavier. For the readings, liturgies, meditations and vignettes on St. Francis Xavier, click on LITURGY

Wednesday December 2:
First Wednesday of Advent

Violet vestments

First Reading: Isaiah 25: 6-10
Psalms: Psalm 23: 1-6
Gospel Reading: Matthew 15: 29-37

Thursday December 3:
Feast of Saint Francis Xavier, priest, religious and missionary

White vestments

First Reading: Isaiah 26: 1-6
Psalms: Psalm 118: 1, 8-9, 19-21, 25-27
Gospel Reading: Matthew 7: 24-27

December 3: SAINT FRANCIS XAVIER, Religious and Missionary

      One of the charter members of the Jesuit Order, Saint Francis Xavier was hand-picked by Saint Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus. Born in the family castle of Xavier near Pamplona in the Basque country of the Spanish Navarre on April 7, 1506, Francis was sent to the prestigious University of Paris to receive his licentiate in 1528. While there he met Fr. Loyola. Though he rejected Ignatius' original plans, he was one over by his piety and became one of the original seven who took their vows as Jesuits, dedicated to the Pope, at Montmartre, France in 1534 on the feast of the Assumption. He became a Jesuit priest in 1537 in Venice, Italy and subsequently was sent to Rome along with four other Jesuits in 1538. After two years of "pestering the Pope" and keeping Pope Paul III abreast of the activities and ideals of the Society of Jesus, the Holy Father formally approved the Society. Once approval was official, Fr. Xavier and fellow Jesuit Fr. Simon Rodriquez were sent to the East Indies as the first missionaries. On their way they stopped off in Lisbon where King John II detained them. It was the king who had requested missionaries. When they were ready to head to the Orient again on April 7, 1541 the King felt Fr. Rodriquez was not healthy enough to go and other priests were assigned to join Francis, though not Jesuits. Thirteen months later Fr. Xavier arrived in Goa where he preached for five months to the children, ministered to the sick, and sought to correct the immorality factor - in particular the use of concubines so prevalent among the Portuguese community there, but frowned upon in Europe and by the Church. From there he traveled to the southern tip of India to Sri Lanka ministering to the natives. In 1544 he moved on to care for the Malaccans and a year later the Moluccas near New Guinea. In 1546 he landed on Morotai which was near the Philippines. In 1549 he reached his farthest destination - Japan where he preached until 1551. Whenever other missionaries joined him in these countries, Francis would turn over the duties to them and move on to new frontiers with a heart flaming with love for God and souls. Thus, he set out for China. On December 3, 1552 in sight of his life-long goal to evangelize to the Chinese, God took Francis home. Alone excepted for a Chinese youth named Antony, Francis, though only 46, died of exhaustion and fever on the island of Shangchwan just a short distance from the China mainland. No other missionary, with the exception of possibly Saint Paul, traveled more miles than Francis and in such a short span of time. He traveled to some of the most remote and inaccessible places then known to man under tremendous harrowing situations that a lesser man would have run from. But he persevered, despite the lack of cooperation from locals and the absence of funds, in converting over 30,000 people during his lifetime. In a time when thousands were fleeing from the faith in Europe as a result of the Protestant revolution, thousands were embracing the True Faith in the Far East thanks to the valiant, heroic deeds of St. Francis Xavier, the "Apostle of the Indies and Japan." It is all the more remarkable when one realizes he worked solely through interpreters and translators, not having the gift of tongues. He was credited with countless miracles and healings and was canonized by Pope Gregory XV in 1622. Pope Saint Pius X proclaimed him patron of all foreign missions in 1927 along with the Little Flower of Lisieux- Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus.

      For the special Novena Prayer for this day during this time of preparation during Advent, click on ADVENT

ADVENT NOVENA PRAYER

    O Triune Divinity, we come to you through the intercession of Blessed Mary, ever-Virgin, and St. Joseph, her chaste, holy spouse. In this season of Advent we desire to obtain the grace of purity of intention, that through our obedience to Your Heavenly Will, we, too, can transform our poor, miserable lives into the resplendent stable at Bethlehem where You Only-begotten Son was born.
Through the intercession of Mary, and all the hosts of Heaven, we beseech You, through the merits gained for us by Jesus Christ, Your Only-begotten Son, to help us convert our hearts, to live the messages of Your Mother, and to ardently beseech You to bring about the Triumph of Mary's Immaculate Heart now, that the Reign of the Sacred Heart might be upon the world.
Heavenly Father, we trust in Your goodness and beseech You to hear us, not because of our worthiness, but because of our willingness to be Your little children who kneel in adoration to their God. Come, let us adore Him!

PRAYER for December 2: First Wednesday of Advent

   Mary, our Mother and Mother of all the world, you, too, anticipated the birth of your Son. As you prayed and worked through each day, so help us to do the same, giving our lives to your Son through your intercession. We also beseech St. Joseph your most chaste spouse to come to our aid, as we strive to prepare ourselves for the birth of Jesus Christ. We call upon you, our dear Mother, to make us mindful of these days, helping us to bring to light all that is within us which keeps us from unity to your Son.

    Dear children! Today I call you to prepare yourselves for the coming of Jesus. In a special way, prepare your hearts. May holy Confession be the first act of conversion for you and then, dear children, decide for holiness. May your conversion and decision for holiness begin today and not tomorrow. Little children, I call you all to the way of salvation and I desire to show you the way to Heaven. That is why, little children, be mine and decide with me for holiness. Little children, accept prayer with seriousness and pray, pray, pray. Thank you for having responded to my call.

Click here to go to SECTION TWO or click here to return to the graphics front page of this issue.

December 2, 1998 volume 9, no. 234   DAILY CATHOLIC