Monday, October 9, 2017

Belonging to those waiting for the Word...

And he (Jesus) said to them, "Go into all the world
and preach the gospel to the whole creation." - Mark 16:15

Fr Spencer Howe preaching during holy Mass ~ St John the Baptist, New Brighton , MN ~ USA

"But tell me:  what would become of this world, I mean of the Christian faith, if there were no preaching?  Within a very little while our faith would have perished, for we should believe nothing of that which we now believe.  And because of this, Holy Church has ordered that every Sunday there shall be preaching, much or little, but some preaching. ...

For tell me, should you believe in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar if this had not been preached in holy sermons?  You have learned to believe in the Mass only from preaching.  More than this, how should you ever know what sin is, if not by preaching?  What would you know of hell, if there were no preaching?  What would you know of any good work or how you should perform it, if not by preaching, or what would you know of the glories of Heaven?  

All these things that you know came to you through the words heard by your ears, and it is in this wise that you come by knowledge to faith, and that which you know and which you have has come all through the Word of God.  And this is a sovereign rule:  that which we have of the faith of Jesus Christ has come merely through preaching.  And this faith will never perish while it shall be preached."
St Bernardine of Siena (+1444) 

Remembering today...
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St Denis* (and companions)
Nee ~ Italy, Martyr ~ d. 258 (approx)
Bishop of Paris, Patron of Paris
FEAST DAY - Oct 9

NOTEWORTHY: *The first name of one of the priests who 
offers Mass every month (first Wednesday) 
for this Eucharistic Truth Himself group is Dennis. 
Kindly pray a MEMORARE now in thanksgiving 
for his vocation and generosity of serving our group.

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Legend has it:  after St Denis was beheaded, his corpse rose and 
he carried his head a few miles, preaching the entire way. 


 Our part...

"The Word of God is not brought to the ends of the world in a suitcase.  We carry it in ourselves.  We don't set it off in a corner of ourselves, arranged in our memory as if on a cupboard shelf.  We must let it go to the very core of ourselves, to the very center around which our whole being revolves.  We cannot be missionaries if we have not sincerely, generously, and warmly welcomed the Word of God, the Gospel within ourselves.  The vital dynamic of this word is to take flesh, to become flesh in us.  And when this word comes to dwell within us, we become capable of being missionaries. ...

Once we have heard God's Word, we no longer have the right not to accept it; once we have accepted it, we no longer have the right not to let it become flesh in us; once it has become flesh in us, we no longer have the right to keep it for ourselves alone.  Henceforward, we belong to all those who are waiting for the Word."

~ Servant of God, Madeleine Delbrel (20th c French mystic)

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