Ss. Simon & Jude

Lest anyone think that I had an excess of fervour on the first day of blogging or an overdose of laziness which suddenly hit me, know that I have an excuse.  The internet service for the past 3 days has been, intermittent at best, and nonexistent for hours at a time at worst.  Therefore, I have been unable to post anything in that time frame.  As a matter of fact, I am presently writing this sitting in my chair in the corridor, because I still have no Wi-Fi signal in my room!  And they say Italy is a 1st world country!  Ha! Anyway, the above post is a short video on Sts. Simon and Jude, today's feast day.  I had originally planned to share with you some of my meditation on today's gospel reading, but I never know how long the internet will last.  So, for now, I will leave it at this.  God bless and happy feast day of Sts. Simon and Jude.

Mission Month

October is Mission Month.  It's pretty sad when you only read the Pope's address on the 26th of the month, but... at least, I read it!  As I said in my previous post and as is the title of this blog, I want to continue the life-long search for Truth.  Lo and behold, the Holy Father himself spoke about this in the Mission Sunday address: "Like the Greek pilgrims of two thousand years ago, the people of our time too, even perhaps unbeknown to them, ask believers not only to 'speak' of Jesus, but to 'make Jesus seen', to make the face of the Redeemer shine out in every corner of the earth before the generations of the new millennium and especially before the young people of every continent, the privileged ones to whom the Gospel proclamation is intended. They must perceive that Christians bring Christ's word because he is the truth, because they have found in him the meaning and the truth for their own lives."  The highlight is mine, of course.  That is what I hope to bring to all who will eventually read this blog, Truth, at least the search for Him.  Yes, Truth is a person, because Jesus plainly said, "I am the way, the truth and the life."  For those who say there is no such thing as objective truth have not yet come into a personal relationship with Jesus.
Speaking of relationships with Jesus, I would like to conclude with another passage from Benedict's message: "Only on the basis of this encounter with the Love of God that changes life can we live in communion with him and with one another and offer our brothers and sisters a credible witness, accounting for the hope that is in us (cf. 1 Pt 3: 15). An adult faith, capable of entrusting itself totally to God with a filial attitude fostered by prayer, meditation on the word of God and study of the truth of the faith, is a prerequisite for furthering a new humanism founded on the Gospel of Jesus."  We seriously need to ask ourselves some questions when we read this.  Do we have what Benedict calls "an adult faith"?  Do we put all our trust in God?  How much time do we spend in prayer, mediation on the word of God and study of the truth of the faith?  May the Lord always grant me the grace to be in intimate union with the Holy Trinity and may my faith grow day by day.  And may all become "protagonists of the Church's commitment to proclaim the Gospel."

First comments

I had been thinking about starting a blog for quite some time now.  However, like many things in my life, it just wasn't the time yet.  In my meditation this morning, a sort of inspiration (could it possibly be from the Holy Spirit?) was indicated to me that now is the time.  I want this blog to be a search for, a meditation on, or a reflection of the truth, or rather, I should say, the Truth, who ultimately is God.  I hope to share with my readers (if ever I get any!) some thoughts and reflections on the Scriptures, the Church, the saints, or just life in general, especially life in the missions.  I consider myself to be a missionary through and through.  It is my firm desire to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth.  That should be a desire of every Christian!  I hope that this blog will accomplish part of that desire.
I was on Facebook for a number of years, but will soon be canceling my participation in that website (if I am allowed to do that!).  Why, you may ask?  Frankly, I have wasted too many hours fumbling through people's sometimes idiotic comments and seeing their friends and their friends' friends for just too long.  Enough is enough.  I don't believe, and you may disagree with me, that Facebook is necessarily the way for spreading the Gospel.  If there are others that can work through that, may God bless them, but I prefer being able to communicate this way.
This morning's 1st reading was taken from Ephesians 5: 21-33.  Quite a number of things struck as I prayed with this passage.  Of course, feminists may say that women get the wrong end of the stick in this letter, or that Paul was speaking from the confines of thought in his day, but I don't see it like that.  Rather, I believe that men really have a challenge here!  Listen carefully, "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her."  How did Christ give Himself up for the Church?  All the way to the cross!  His love for the Church got him killed, and that is the love that husbands are supposed to have for their wives.  That is real love (agape in Greek and, of course, that is the verb Paul uses here in the Greek text).  To show what this means in real life, Paul goes on to say that "husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.  He who loves his wife loves himself."  A bit later in this passage, Paul will have to concede that "This mystery is a profound one."  The Greek says, "This mystery is 'mega'", in other words, huge!  It is indeed "mega" and one which we should meditate on often in searching for the Truth about male and female, husband and wife.  I hope to be able to come back to this meditation for another day.  In the meantime, I believe that this is enough for a first post.
As I would often end my classes when I was teaching, I say to you, "Have a great day, God bless you, and see you tomorrow, God willing!!!"