+PAX

Prayers for the eternal rest of Viola, 91, and for all her family and all who
mourn her.

Prayers for the spiritual, mental and physical health of the following, for all
their loved ones and all who take care of them:

C., very important interview for a new position.

Wayne who is suffering from cancer.

Continued prayers for Dr. and young mother Julie, 33, who has liver and spine
cancer.

Patrick, who will get out of jail in March, that he find a recovery program to
help him.

Paul, celebrating 29 years of sobriety later this month. Deo gratias!

Ollie, a grandmother and the caregiver to her grandchildren, no health
insurance, multiple health issues, plus a very good possibility of breast
cancer, colon cancer. She will undergo testing next week.

Johnny and his family, for healing, and please hold them in your intentions for
the next week.

Joan, who fell and broke her hip. She's made it through surgery, and will be in
rehab for several weeks. Prayers for her full recovery, as well as for her kids,
who are working hard to ensure she has everything she needs when she finishes
rehab.

Kim, a farmer recovering from another cancer surgery with one more to go.
Prayers for her and her family, as well as for a full recovery.

T.J. and Zachary, as well as the whole expedition group going for a week-long
trip into the rain forest.

Lord, help us all as You know and will. God's will is best. All is
mercy and grace. God is never absent, praise Him! Thanks so much. JL

February 14, June 15, October 15
Chapter 12: How the Morning Office Is to Be Said

The Morning Office on Sunday shall begin with Psalm 66
recited straight through without an antiphon.
After that let Psalm 50 be said with "Alleluia,"
then Psalms 117 and 62,
the Canticle of Blessing (Benedicite) and the Psalms of praise (Ps.
148-150);
then a lesson from the Apocalypse to be recited by heart,
the responsory, the verse,
the canticle from the Gospel book,
the litany and so the end.

REFLECTION

Ever notice how a loving parent makes allowances so the kids WON'T
slip up or be discouraged? Good teachers do the same thing. Some
things are made so deliberately easy that all of the students can
generally make it through the hoop!

St. Benedict does this with both morning Offices, beginning Vigils
and Lauds with 2 psalms that are said every day. He even stresses
that, at Lauds, the 66th Psalm is to be said slowly, so that the
monastics may have time to gather.

Those two Offices are the time people are most likely to be running
late, either because they had to bound out of bed at the last minute,
or because the "necessities of nature" break between Vigils and Lauds
delayed them unexpectedly. It is worth noting that only with these
two Offices, when tardiness can so easily occur, does the Holy Rule
make such allowance. For a further bit of trivia, these four Psalms
are repeated every day: one could miss them several times in a week
and still have said all 150 Psalms in that week.

Sometimes people (including, alas, ourselves!) can make unrealistic
conditions and demand that others meet them. The concept of failure
is built into those demands. We fence people about with our own
standards that they could not possibly meet, then condemn them for
failing to meet them! What a sad and tragic game.

Take a self-inventory and check to see if there is anyone you dislike so
intensely that they cannot be right, no matter what they do. If there are any
such folks, it's time for you to change, not them! I recall, alas, one pastor
who annoyed me so much that even when he used incense (something I ordinarily
love,) I carped to myself that he didn't do it right. With me, he just could NOT
win. Sigh... When things get that bad, it's ourselves who need the overhaul,
not the presumed "offender."

St. Benedict, by his example, teaches us to be the exact opposite. He
shows us that we should be gentle and loving, that we should not be
about setting burdens on others that are guaranteed to make them fail
or quit or be discouraged. If we have received such kindness, we
should pass it on!

Love and prayers,
Jerome, OSB
http://www.stmarysmonastery.org
Petersham, MA







[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]