X-Received: by 2002:a05:6214:a67:b0:5ef:43ec:d153 with SMTP id ef7-20020a0562140a6700b005ef43ecd153mr285768qvb.5.1681373643299; Thu, 13 Apr 2023 01:14:03 -0700 (PDT) X-Received: by 2002:a05:6870:5621:b0:187:7f29:c1 with SMTP id m33-20020a056870562100b001877f2900c1mr1570752oao.0.1681373642882; Thu, 13 Apr 2023 01:14:02 -0700 (PDT) Path: ...!news-out.google.com!nntp.google.com!postnews.google.com!google-groups.googlegroups.com!not-for-mail Newsgroups: alt.religion.christian Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2023 01:14:02 -0700 (PDT) Injection-Info: google-groups.googlegroups.com; posting-host=2600:8807:8002:8a00:5165:1c0a:27cb:e070; posting-account=McBorwoAAABX3UwgsvDkrCZh8-cptElm NNTP-Posting-Host: 2600:8807:8002:8a00:5165:1c0a:27cb:e070 User-Agent: G2/1.0 MIME-Version: 1.0 Message-ID: <67ccc35a-1b3d-4f88-bd23-c9b6cb15b15an@googlegroups.com> Subject: Who do you honor at your table? From: Weedy Injection-Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2023 08:14:03 +0000 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Bytes: 5253 Lines: 88 Who do you honor at your table? Who do you honor at your table? The Lord is always ready to receive us at his table. As far as we can tell from the gospel accounts, Jesus never refused a dinner invitation! Why, in this particular instance, does Jesus lecture his host on whom he should or shouldn't invite to dinner? Did his host expect some favor or reward from Jesus? Did he want to impress his neighbors with the honor of hosting the "miracle worker" from Galilee? Luke 14:12-14 <<>><<>><<>> April 13th - Saint Hermenegild, Martyr (d. 586) Leovigild, Arian King of the Visigoths, had two sons, Hermenegild and Recared, who were reigning conjointly with him. All were Arians, but Hermenegild married a zealous Catholic, the daughter of Sigebert, King of France, and by her holy example was converted to the faith. His father, on hearing the news, denounced him as a traitor, and marched to seize his person. Hermenegild tried to rally the Catholics of Spain in his defense, but they were too weak to make any stand; and after a two years=E2=80=99 fruitless struggle, Hermenegild surrendered on the assurance of a free pardon. Once he was safely in the royal camp, the king had him loaded with fetters and cast into a foul dungeon at Seville. Tortures and bribes were in turn employed to shake his faith, but Hermenegild wrote to his father that he regarded the crown as nothing, and preferred to lose scepter and life rather than betray the truth of God. At length, on Easter night, an Arian bishop entered his cell, and promised him his father=E2=80=99s pardon if he would receive Communion from his hands. Hermenegild indignantly rejected the offer, and knelt with joy for his death-stroke, praying for his persecutors. The same night a light streaming from his cell told the Christians keeping vigil nearby that the martyr had won his crown and was celebrating the Resurrection of the Lord with the Saints in glory. King Leovigild, on his death-bed, was changed interiorly. He had been witness to the miracles that had occurred after his son=E2=80=99s cruel dea= th, and he told his son and successor Recared to seek out Saint Leander, whom he himself had persecuted. Recared should follow Hermenegild=E2=80=99s example, said the king, and be received by the bishop into the Church. Recared did so; and although his father himself had not had the courage to renounce the false faith publicly, after his father=E2=80=99s de= ath the new king labored so earnestly for the extirpation of Arianism that he brought over the whole nation of the Visigoths to the Church. =E2=80=9CN= or is it to be wondered,=E2=80=9D says Saint Gregory, =E2=80=9Cthat he came th= us to be a preacher of the true faith, since he was the brother of a martyr, whose merits helped him to bring so many into the haven of God=E2=80=99s Church.=E2=80=9D Reflection. The victory of Saint Hermenegild teaches us that constancy and sacrifice are the best arguments for the faith, and the surest way to win souls to God. Source: Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a compilation based on Butler=E2=80=99s Lives of the Saints and other sources by John Gilmary Shea (Benziger Brothers: New York, 1894). Saint Quote: "I have always something to repent for after having talked, but have never been sorry for having been silent." --St. Arsanius, The Tutor Of the Emperor's Children. Bible Quote: And he saith to them: My soul is sorrowful even unto death; stay you here, and watch. (Mark 11:34) <><><><> ACT OF LOVE TO THE SACRED HEART How great, O my Jesus, is the extent of Thine excessive charity! Thou hast prepared for me, of Thy most precious Body and Blood, a divine banquet, where Thou givest me Thyself without reserve. What hath urged Thee to this excess of love? Nothing but Thine own most loving Heart. O adorable Heart of my Jesus, furnace of Divine Love, receive my soul into the wound of Thy most Sacred Passion, that in this school of charity I may learn to make a return of love to that God Who hast given me such wonderful proofs of His love.