Daily Dig for September 30 Henri J. M. Nouwen There is no such thing as the right place, the right job, the right calling or ministry. I can be happy or unhappy in all situations. I am sure of it, because I have been. I have felt distraught and joyful in situations of abundance as well as poverty, in situations of popularity and anonymity, in situations of success and failure. The difference was never based on the situation itself, but always on my state of mind and heart. When I knew I was walking with God, I always felt happy and at peace. When I was entangled in my own complaints and emotional needs, I always felt restless and divided. Source: Seeking Peace Daily Prayer for September 30 Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16:33, NIV Dear Father in heaven, in the world we are full of fear; in you we have peace. We pray that your Spirit may give us the joy of your heavenly kingdom and the strength to live in your service. Remember those who suffer pain, who still have to walk paths of fear and distress. Grant them help, to the glory of your name. May we be united in hope and in expectation of what you will give through your great goodness and faithfulness. Amen. www.plough.com

Wednesday September 30 Feast of Saint Jerome - Scripture Scholar

SAINT JEROME, PRIEST AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH – MEMORIA: 30 SEPTEMBER by achristianpilgrim Born at Strido in Dalmatia about the year 340. He studied at Rome and was later baptized. Then he began to lead a life of asceticism, went to the East and was there ordained priest. Returning to Rome he was secretary to Pope Saint Damasus and began the task of translating the Bible into Latin as well as promoting the monastic life. He then settled in Bethlehem where he gave great help in the needs of the Church. He wrote many works, especially commentaries on the scriptures. He died at Betlehem in the year 420.  Prayer: Almighty, ever-living God, You endowed Saint Jerome with a deep reverence for Holy Scripture, which he loved with all his heart. Sustain us ever more with Your Word and help us to find in it the source of life. We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen. Jakarta, 30 September 2015 A Christian Pilgrim achristianpilgrim | September 30, 2015 at 12:55 am | Tags: IGNORANCE OF SCRIPTURE IS IGNORANCE OF CHRIST, ST. jEROME, WORD OF GOD | Categories: SAINTS WE LOVE | URL:http://wp.me/p1055h-320

Our Pope at the Prisoner

Monday September 28 Pope Visits Prisoners

Pope at the Curran Correctional Institute in Philadelphia

Daily Dig for September 28

Thérèse of Lisieux

Love gave me the key to my vocation. I realized that if the church was a body made up of different members, she would not be without the greatest and most essential of them all. I realized that love includes all vocations, that love is all things, and that, because it is eternal, it embraces every time and place. Swept by an ecstatic joy, I cried, “At last I have found my vocation. My vocation is love! I have found my place. I will be love. So I shall be everything and so my dreams will be fulfilled!”

Source: Story of a Soul

Daily Prayer for September 28 Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story – those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south. Psalm 107:1–3, NIV Lord our God and our Father, we thank you for all the blessings you have brought into our lives and for everything we still hope to receive from your goodness. We thank you that through your Spirit you will work more and more in us and in all people, so that we are not held back by any human considerations but can go toward a higher goal. Keep us in your care. In all our special concerns may each of us experience your comfort and help, so that we may rejoice with the praise of your name always in our hearts. Amen.

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Sunday September 27, 2015 Hymn Composed by Nomand Gouin and Text by Norbertine by Fr. Andrew Cerferni

Hymn composer for World Meeting of Families honored, humbled by Carol Zimmermann Normand Gouin (Photo courtesy of Holy Cross College) When the Philadelphia Orchestra plays the official hymn for World Meeting of Familiesduring the closing Mass later today in Philadelphia, the song’s composer, who will be singing with the choir, said he might have a hard time singing. “I’ll likely be overcome by emotion,” said Normand Gouin, less than a week before the Mass, when he was still going back and forth for rehearsals. Gouin, director of liturgy and music at the chaplain’s office at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, composed the music for the hymn “Sound the Bell of Holy Freedom” and the text was written by Norbertine Father Andrew Ciferni, director for the Center of Norbertine Studies at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin. He said he wanted the hymn, which will be sung three times during major events at the World Meeting of Families, to be simple and accessible to people, along the lines of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy.” He and Father Ciferni worked together for about a month on the song before submitting it as a contender for the event’s official hymn. “The word I keep using is humble,” Gouin said of the piece being chosen. He has composed other pieces but never something performed in such a large setting and also before a pope. The hymn’s bell theme was something he and Father Ciferni felt would not only convey the symbolic Liberty Bell in Philadelphia but also how bells are used in monasteries to mark time, “calling us to be mindful of God’s presence.” Once the hymn was selected, which Gouin composed for brass, organ and choir, the arrangement was sent to the Philadelphia Orchestra to be elaborated on for their performance. The hymn also was also used in the opening Mass for the World Meeting of Families and in the Sept. 26 Mass celebrated by Pope Francis at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul. The hymn will not just have its big moment during the World Meeting of Families, but will be used in other liturgical celebrations with an alternate text that expresses the role of the Holy Spirit in peoples’ lives. Gouin’s hope is that the hymn, like Pope Francis, will bring encourage and inspire people and lead them “to raise their hearts and voices in a spirit of unity, peace, and renewed hope.” Carol Zimmermann | September 27, 2015 at 1:56 pm | Categories: CNS | URL:http://wp.me/peBMy-8Dt Comment    See all comments    Like

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Saturday September 26, 2016 Pope Francis leaves New York for Philly

Saturday September 26 Our Holy Father, Pope Francis

Daily Dig for September 26

Eberhard Arnold

People have turned away from the clarity of Jesus, who challenged us to say either yes or no and not something in between. People turn from the way of Jesus, weakly accepting a paradoxical situation in relation to God; all they can say in their vanity is “yes and no” or “no and yes” simultaneously. We must fight against this. We were once challenged, “Surely you don’t want to wage a general campaign against all evil?” Yes, this is exactly what it is all about. That is why Jesus came into the world; he called us and sent us out to take up this campaign against all evil in all things. He came to destroy the works of the devil. “God is light and in him there is no darkness.”

Source: Salt and Light

Daily Prayer for September 26 Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:20, RSV Lord our God, we are your children, who come before you and stand in your presence. Be with us and be our light in all situations of life, in all hardships and grief. Be our light, as you have always been. Reveal your power so that the world may know you as we have come to know you. Give us joyful readiness to persevere until your day comes, for the brightness of your day will shine through all darkness and will end all evil, to the glory of your name. Amen.

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September 25 ,2015 Our Pope Francis and the American People

Friday September 25, 2015 - The Pope in the Capital Rotunda before St. Junipero Statue

CANONIZATION MASS OF ST. JUNIPERO SERRA – WASHINGTON D.C.; U.S.A., WEDNESDAY, 23 SEPTEMBER 2015 by achristianpilgrim Jakarta, 25 September 2015 A Christian Pilgrim

Historical Moment September 24, 2015 - Pope speaks to Joint Congress

Thursday September 24 Our Boss Tells Us to Love and Do Good to All

HELP ONE ANOTHER – POPE FRANCIS by achristianpilgrim Daily Dig for September 24 Jan Amos Comenius The sun sends its rays upon us directly, paying no heed that we look askance at one another. The rose smells sweetly both to the Jew and to the Christian. And so God is God of all, and whatever he says, he says in the same manner to all that are ready to listen. If, then, we look to our own rules, books, and works which we have made ourselves, and which differ in many thousands of ways, we are irreconcilable. But if, with due attention and honor, we accept God’s ideas regarding our lives, reconciliation is very easy. Source: A Perfect Reformation Daily Prayer for September 24 Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. John 12:24–25, NIV Dear Father in heaven, we long to be your children and to grow closer and closer to eternal life with all its goodness and truth. In your love to us your children, bless us as we walk on earth under great stress and temptation. Keep us from going astray, and let what you have placed in our hearts grow toward perfection, to your glory and your honor. May our hearts always know the joy that our struggle and suffering are not in vain, that if we are faithful, we may bring forth the fruit of righteousness. Amen. www.plough.com

Wednesday, September 23. The Message of Pope Francis to us is" Be an instrument of peace."

Daily Dig for September 23

Henri J. M. Nouwen

How can we not lose our souls when everything and everybody pulls us in different directions? How can we “keep it together” when we are constantly being torn apart? Jesus says, “Not a hair of your head will be lost. Your perseverance will win you your lives” (Luke 21:18–19). We can only survive our world when we trust that God knows us more intimately than we know ourselves. We can only keep it together when we believe that God holds us together. We can only win our lives when we remain faithful to the truth that every little part of us, yes, every hair, is completely safe in the divine embrace of our Lord. To say it differently: when we keep living a spiritual life, we have nothing to be afraid of.

Source: Bread for the Journey

Daily Prayer for September 23 Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt Therefore it is said, "When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men." Ephesians 4:8, RSV Our dear Father in heaven, we thank you that you have given us the Lord Jesus on high and that we are allowed to be with him and find joy even while still surrounded by all that must fade and perish. For in Jesus Christ you hold us by the hand through anxiety, need, and death. Grant that he may be with us as we continue our pilgrimage. Grant us your Spirit, for we are poor in spirit and in soul. Give us your Holy Spirit from on high. Just in our weakness we come to know what strength and victory you bring through the Lord Jesus, our Savior. The Lord Jesus is our Savior for body, soul, and spirit for ever and ever. Amen.

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Tuesday September 22 Holy Father Comes to USA Today

Daily Dig for September 22 Eberhard Arnold Our life will become not narrower, but broader; not more limited, but more boundless; not more regulated, but more abundant; not more pedantic, but more bounteous; not more sober, but more enthusiastic; not more faint-hearted, but more daring; not more empty and human, but more filled by God; not sadder, but happier; not more incapable, but more creative. All this is Jesus and his spirit of freedom and peace. He is coming to us. Let us go into his future radiant with joy! Source: A Joyful Pilgrimage Daily Prayer for September 22 Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:10–12, NIV Lord our God, we lift our hearts to you, for you have given great promises to those who fear you. Let your Word strengthen us in faith, patience, and hope. Be with all those who call upon you, pleading for help in our time. For these times must work for our good, and in spite of sin, death, and all evil we can find joy in what you are doing. We call to you, O Lord our God. Let your hand be revealed, that something may be seen besides human striving and the efforts of human hands. Let the work of your hand be visible to many, to all peoples on this earth. May your name be honored, O Lord our God, your kingdom come, and your will be done on earth as in heaven. Amen.

Monday September 14 FEAST OF THE EXALTATION OF THE CROSS –

Daily Dig for September 14 Malcolm Muggeridge In the turmoil of life without, and black despair within, it is always possible to turn aside and wait on God. Just as at the center of a hurricane there is stillness, and above the clouds a clear sky, so it is possible to make a little clearing in the jungle of our human will for a rendezvous with God. He will always turn up, though in what guise and in what circumstances cannot be foreseen – perhaps trailing clouds of glory, perhaps as a beggar; in the purity of the desert or in the squalor of London’s Soho or New York’s Times Square. Source: Confessions of a Twentieth Century Pilgrim Daily Prayer for September 14 Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time," declares the Lord. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the Lord. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." Jeremiah 31:33–34, NIV Lord our God, we hope in you. One thing never leaves our hearts, your promise that you will be our God, our God in Jesus Christ. This stands firm, and we want to hold to it in trust and confidence. For your Word remains sure, and all your works lead toward a great and wonderful time when you will be glorified, when our hearts can at last become free because we know you. We can become free from all our own works, free from all trembling and hesitation, free from all suffering and distress, because we know that you, O God, are our Father. Amen. www.plough.com

Saturday September 12, Meeting of the Holy Name Federation and of the combined Federation of the Bentivaglio

Holy Name Federation

left to right Sisters Nancy, Ann Carolyn(HN Federation President) Barbara and Etta

Combined Federation

Left to right

Sisters Nancy, Dianne(Bentivaglio Federation President) Claudia, Carolyn, Eileen Clare, and Ann   

It was a joy to have these Sisters with us and we continue to pray for their work for the Poor Clare Communities

Words of Pope Francis

When we stand before Jesus crucified, we see the depth of his love, which exalts and sustains us, but at the same time, unless we are blind, we begin to realize that Jesus’ gaze, burning with love, expands to embrace all his people. We realize once more that he wants to make use of us to draw closer to his beloved people. He takes us from the midst of his people and he sends us to his people; without this sense of belonging we cannot understand our deepest identity. Source: The Joy of the Gospel (Evangelii Gaudium) Daily Prayer for September 12 Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains...And the gospel must first be preached to all nations...Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. Mark 13:7–8,10, 13, NIV Lord our God, Ruler over the world, whose longing is to see your thoughts and your will in all peoples, we come before you and ask that we may find strength in your Word and never cease to hope for the coming of your kingdom. Even when the world storms and rages, even when earthly kingdoms rise up against each other and everything seems dark, even then be present. Let your kingdom go quietly forward, to the honor of your name. Help us come closer to the goal Jesus has shown us, closer to the time we wait for, the day of his coming when all shall be made new and good through your power, through your Spirit. Amen. www.plough.com

9/11 A day of Prayer at the Monastery as we remember all those who died especially our Friar Mychal Judge OFM of the Holy Name Province and for all the Families who have lost loved ones.

September 11. Prayers for all Who died and for Their Families

Walt Nenycz

We rarely get a chance to see another country's editorial about the USA

Read this excerpt from a Romanian Newspaper. The article was written by Mr. Cornel Nistorescu and published under the title 'C'ntarea Americii, meaning 'Ode ToAmerica ') in the Romanian newspaper Evenimentulzilei 'The Daily Event' or 'News of the Day'.

~An Ode to America ~

Why are Americans so united? They would not resemble one another even if you painted them all one color! They speak all the languages of the world and form an astonishing mixture of civilizations and religious beliefs.

On 9/ll, the American tragedy turned three hundred million people into a hand put on the heart. Nobody rushed to accuse the White House, the Army, or the Secret Service that they are only a bunch of losers. Nobody rushed to empty their bank accounts. Nobody rushed out onto the streets nearby to gape about.

Instead the Americans volunteered to donate blood and to give a helping hand.

After the first moments of panic, they raised their flag over the smoking ruins, putting on T-shirts, caps and ties in the colors of the national flag. They placed flags on buildings and cars as if in every place and on every car a government official or the president was passing. On every occasion, they started singing: 'God Bless America !'

I watched the live broadcast and rerun after rerun for hours listening to the story of the guy who went down one hundred floors with a woman in a wheelchair without knowing who she was, or of the Californian hockey player, who gave his life fighting with the terrorists and prevented the plane from hitting a target that could have killed other hundreds or thousands of people.

How on earth were they able to respond united as one human being? Imperceptibly, with every word and musical note, the memory of some turned into a modern myth of tragic heroes. And with every phone call, millions and millions of dollars were put into collection aimed at rewarding not a man or a family, but a spirit, which no money can buy. What on earth unites the Americans in such a way? Their land? Their history? Their economic Power? Money? I tried for hours to find an answer, humming songs and murmuring phrases with the risk of sounding commonplace, I thought things over, I reached but only one conclusion... Only freedom can work such miracles.

Cornel Nistorescu

(This deserves to be passed around the Internet forever.) It took a person on the outside - looking in - to see what we take for granted !

GOD BLESS AMERICA !!!