Minute Meditations-Inbox Edition(Tuesday, May 31, 2016)

Roll Up Your Sleeves Deep Adventure
Someone once told Pope Francis that his words had inspired him to give a lot more to the poor. Pope Francis's response was to challenge the man not to just give money, but to roll up his sleeves, get his hands dirty, and actually reach out and help. -from Deep Adventure
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Saint of the Day (Tuesday, May 31, 2016)- Visitation

Visitation Tuesday, May 31, 2016 | Feast Day: Tuesday, May 31, 2016
This is a fairly late feast, going back only to the 13th or 14th century. It was established widely throughout the Church to pray for unity. The present date of celebration was set in 1969 in order to follow the Annunciation of the Lord (March 25) and precede the Nativity of John the Baptist (June 24). Like most feasts of Mary, it is closely connected with Jesus and his saving work. The more visible actors in the visitation drama (see Luke 1:39-45) are Mary and Elizabeth. However, Jesus and John the Baptist steal the scene in a hidden way. Jesus makes John leap with joy—the joy of messianic salvation. Elizabeth, in turn, is filled with the Holy Spirit and addresses words of praise to Mary—words that echo down through the ages. It is helpful to recall that we do not have a journalist's account of this meeting. Rather, Luke, speaking for the Church, gives a prayerful poet's rendition of the scene. Elizabeth's praise of Mary as "the mother of my Lord" can be viewed as the earliest Church's devotion to Mary. As with all authentic devotion to Mary, Elizabeth's (the Church's) words first praise God for what God has done to Mary. Only secondly does she praise Mary for trusting God's words. Then comes the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55). Here Mary herself (like the Church) traces all her greatness to God. Comment: One of the invocations in Mary's litany is "Ark of the Covenant." Like the Ark of the Covenant of old, Mary brings God's presence into the lives of other people. As David danced before the Ark, John the Baptist leaps for joy. As the Ark helped to unite the 12 tribes of Israel by being placed in David's capital, so Mary has the power to unite all Christians in her Son. At times, devotion to Mary may have occasioned some divisiveness, but we can hope that authentic devotion will lead all to Christ and therefore to one another. Quote: "Moved by charity, therefore, Mary goes to the house of her kinswoman.... While every word of Elizabeth's is filled with meaning, her final words would seem to have a fundamental importance: 'And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her from the Lord' (Luke 1:45). These words can be linked with the title 'full of grace' of the angel's greeting. Both of these texts reveal an essential Mariological content, namely the truth about Mary, who has become really present in the mystery of Christ precisely because she 'has believed.' The fullness of grace announced by the angel means the gift of God himself. Mary's faith, proclaimed by Elizabeth at the visitation, indicates how the Virgin of Nazareth responded to this gift" (Blessed John Paul II, The Mother of the Redeemer, 12). Click here for a printer friendly version
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Community Fine

You have been charged with the violation of community rules [AR.395/92] and obliged to pay a fine amounting to $1,340,49.
Please refer to the document enclosed for more information.

Saint of the Day (Monday, May 30, 2016)-St. Joan of Arc

St. Joan of Arc Monday, May 30, 2016 Lived(1412-1431) | Feast Day: Monday, May 30, 2016
Burned at the stake as a heretic after a politically-motivated trial, Joan was beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1920. Born of a fairly well-to-do peasant couple in Domremy-Greux (southeast of Paris), Joan was only 12 when she experienced a vision and heard voices that she later identified as Sts. Michael the Archangel, Catherine of Alexandria, and Margaret of Antioch. During the Hundred Years War, she led French troops against the English and recaptured the cities of Orléans and Troyes. This enabled Charles VII to be crowned as king in Reims in 1429. Captured near Compiegne the following year, she was sold to the English and placed on trial for heresy and witchcraft. Professors at the University of Paris supported Bishop Pierre Cauchon of Beauvis, the judge at her trial; Cardinal Henry Beaufort of Winchester, England, participated in the questioning of Joan in prison. In the end, she was condemned for wearing men's clothes. The English resented France's military success–to which Joan contributed.  On this day in 1431, she was burned at the stake in Rouen, and her ashes were scattered in the Seine River. A second Church trial 25 years later nullified the earlier verdict, which was reached under political pressure. Remembered by most people for her military exploits, Joan had a great love for the sacraments, which strengthened her compassion toward the poor. Popular devotion to her increased greatly in 19th-century France and later among French soldiers during World War I. Theologian George Tavard writes that her life "offers a perfect example of the conjunction of contemplation and action" because her spiritual insight is that there should be a "unity of heaven and earth." Joan of Arc has been the subject of many books, plays, operas, and movies. Comment: "Joan of Arc is like a shooting star across the landscape of French and English history, amid the stories of the Church's saints and into our consciousness. Women identify with her; men admire her courage. She challenges us in fundamental ways. Despite the fact that more than 500 years have passed since she lived, her issues of mysticism, calling, identity, trust and betrayal, conflict and focus are our issues still." (Joan of Arc: God's Warrior, by Barbara Beckwith)  Quote: As she was being burned at the stake, Joan called on Jesus. Click here for a printer friendly version
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