The Old Carpenter

Saturday, August 14, 2010

The Old Carpenter

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer- contractor of his plans to leave the house- building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family. He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by.

The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end a dedicated career.

When the carpenter finished his work the employer came to inspect the house. He handed the front-door key to the carpenter.

This is your house, he said, my gift to you.

The carpenter was shocked! What a shame!

If he had only known he was building his own, he would have done it all so differently.

We do the most of the things having such thoughts in our mind. But we only realize when it comes back to us.

So it is with us. We build our lives, a day at a time, often putting less than our best into the building. Then with a shock we realize we have to live in the house that we have built. If we could do it over, we'd do it much differently. But we cannot go back.

You are the carpenter. Each day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Life is a do-it-yourself project, someone has said. Your attitudes and the choices you make today, build the house you live in tomorrow. Build wisely!

FILI REDEMPTOR MUNDI DEUS, MISERERE NOBIS!

FILI REDEMPTOR MUNDI DEUS, MISERERE NOBIS! - God the Son, Redeemer of the World, have mercy on us!

Juan Martinez Montanes 'Cristo de los Calices' - Seville Cathedral

I will remember the tender mercies of the Lord, the praise of the Lord for all the things that the Lord hath bestowed on us, and for the multitude of His good things to the house of Israel, which he hath given them according to His kindness, and according to the multitude of His mercies. And He said: Surely they are my people, children that will not deny - so He became their Saviour....And in His mercy He redeemed them, and He carried them and lifted them up. (Isa 63:7-9)

Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on us.

Fear not, for I have redeemed thee, and called thee by thy name, thou art Mine. (Isa 63:1)

'Thou art Mine'. WHAT a ring of triumph in those words. Do we take in their meaning? Do we grasp the truth that God really cares for us, our welfare, our safety?  Have we meditated, pondered on, saturated our minds with the mystery of the Incarnation and the unfathomable oceans of divine love therein revealed? - that love which so thirsted for our salvation that the Second Person of the Holy Trinity Himself undertook the task of paying our debts and delivering us from hell, at what cost to Himself we all know, but His generous heart counts it but little, if so He can secure our eternal happiness. We can understand St Paul reckoning all things as dung to gain Jesus Christ, for the "all things" of which he spoke were but finite and temporal, and what he hoped to possess instead was infinite and eternal; but that our Lord should leave His heavenly home and cast aside his splendour and magnificence, to say nothing of all He suffered, to gain us, miserable little worms of the earth, is past mere human comprehension. And having paid the price, He cries out joyously, "Thou art Mine," as though he had secured a great treasure. Does He always find a corresponding joy on our side, or is it a cold freezing look that meets His, as if we cared but little for all He has done for us and the priceless privilege of being His? Do we respond enthusiastically, "Yes, Lord, I am Thine, Thine in time and eternity, " or do we make Him feel that we had almost rather He had let us alone to perish in our sins and misery? What would be the feelings of a general who had fought his way through countless perils to rescue a beleaguered city, if he found the inhabitants had made league with the enemy, and resented his efforts on their behalf as an unwarrantable intrusion? How often is our Lord made to feel that the creatures He loves so dearly do not appreciate the ransom He offers them, that they scorn and make light of the Precious Blood He shed so copiously to save them, and persistently set their feet on to the broad road that leads to the everlasting woe from which He redeemed them? Did they but meditate on His personal love for them, on the thought "He loved me and delivered Himself for me," how differently would many act! Father Tyrrell expresses this truth so beautifully and forcibly that we cannot refrain from giving a somewhat lengthy extract from one of his writings which bears on this point: "As long as our mind is filled with some distorted, abstract, half-true notion of the complete self-sufficingness of God, as long as our puerile imaginings picture Him as merely benevolent and patronizing in our regard, as offering us 'the alms of His benefits, but caring little whether we accept or decline them, until we receive and believe, without understanding or reconciling it with His self-sufficinigness, the mystery of God's dependence and indigence, love will but slumber in our heart as fire in the cold, hard flint, till struck from it by the steel. But let us once look upon the love-worn face of the Man of Sorrows, and read in its lines, its tear-stains and blood-stains, the record of the ravages of divine love, pent up and compressed within the narrow walls of a finite heart; let us but see in Him the Spouse of man's thoughtless, thankless soul, coming to us in beggary, poor, naked, hungry and thirsty, to be enriched and clothed, and fed and refreshed by our love: ley us but hear Him as He knocks at our hearts' portal and cries, 'Open to Me, My sister, My spouse, for My hair is drenched with the dew, and My locks with the night rain'; let us but realize that in very deed our God wants us, pines for us, hungers and thirsts for us, and lo! we have passed from death unto life, from twilight to noonday, we have found a key to the seeming extravagance, the follies, the delirium, the reckless prodigalities of the Saints, to whom not to suffer was to die."

MATER BONI CONSILII, MOTHER OF GOOD COUNSEL, PRAY FOR US!

MATER BONI CONSILII, MOTHER OF GOOD COUNSEL, PRAY FOR US!

Counsel and equity is mine (Prov 8, 14)

Her thoughts are most vast than the sea, and her counsels more deep than the great ocean (Ecclus 24:3)

She is easily seen by those that love her, and is found by them that seek her (Wisd 6:13)

Although good counsel has always been necessary, and Our Lady has for many centuries been invoked and honoured by the faithful as the Mother of Good Counsel, it has been reserved for the twentieth century to see that title added by the Supreme Pastor of the universal Church to the Litany so dear to every Catholic heart. It is perhaps because of evil counsels, and wrong views, and the spirit of worldliness are everywhere prevalent, that our Lady is put before us as a good and wise counselor, to whom it would be well to have recourse before settling any grave and weighty matter; that we may ascertain what are her thoughts on the subject, "for her thoughts are more vast than the sea," and her knowledge of things, past, present and to come, far exceeds ours. If we only ask her, she will help us to avoid dangers and point out to us hidden rocks on which our vessel would surely founder unless we took this or that precaution. We know there is plenty of advice to be had in this world. People give it right and left, and often on matters they but little understand. The emissaries of Satan are ever on the outlook to lead the unwary into dangerous paths, and our own self-reliance and natural impetuosity  make us impatient of seeking the opinions of the wise and experienced, which perhaps a secret prompting tells us would not be altogether in accordance with our wishes. And so we rush on heedlessly, taking the advice only of those whose views square with our own, and who perhaps are only flattering us, not caring what may result from our course of action, or even urging us on to it with a secret view to their own advantage in some way. How many lives have been wrecked and prospects ruined, homes rendered miserable through acting precipitately and not asking counsel! Nor must we who are Catholics, professing to place things eternal before those merely temporal, be satisfied always with seeking the advice of the worldly-wise, of the 'children of this generation,' as our Lord called them, as if to draw attention to their looking only to what is to their advantage during this mortal life. We must strive to see what will be best for our eternal interests; we must not only be anxious to have clever advice, but that it be good and sound before God. So let us have recourse to our sweet Mother of Good Counsel, whose divine Son, the Infinite Wisdom, has His little arms twined round her neck, and His mouth placed close to her ear, ready to whisper the words that she will pass on to her trustful clients who look to her for guidance in their affairs, whether spiritual or temporal. Not only is she always ready to receive those who need her, but we learn in the book of Wisdom that "she goeth about seeking such as are worthy of her," such, that is, who are not too headstrong and self-willed to be counselled and advised, and "she sheweth herself to them cheerfully in the ways." (Wisd 6) "He that considereth her ways in his heart, and hath understanding in her secrets, who goeth after as one that traceth and stayeth in her ways...shall rest in her glory."(Ecclus 14).

Yet, even those who are well established in the ways of God, those already possessed of spiritual understanding, feel their need of our Lady of Good Counsel. For those so enlightened  as to be always sure which of many good things is the best? Who is not at times puzzled as to which of two courses it would be better and safer to pursue? Let such have recourse to our Lady and say: "Good counsel give to me, Mother; tell me what I am to do." She is our Lady of Light, the spouse of the Holy Ghost, one of whose seven gifts is that which we are seeking. Those especially who have themselves to guide and advise others have, more than any, need of humble, childlike prayer to our blessed Mother under the title we are considering, and in this the supreme Pontiffs have again and again set a striking example. The gifts and privileges granted by them to the Sanctuary of the Madonna at Genezzano are sufficient testimony of this. And were we to go no further back in history than to our two illustrious Popes, we should find in their lives touching proofs of the earnestness with which they sought light and guidance in their responsible office at the feet of our Lady of Good Counsel. Pius IX, following in this the footsteps of his predecessors, used to gather his household daily round her picture for the devotions of the month of May, and one of the last acts of the reign of our late holy Father was to add the title he so loved to the universally used Litany of Loreto. Let us imitate this spirit of confidence in Mary, and let us remember what is written in Ecclesiasticus: "He that lodgeth near her house, and fastening a pin in her walls shall set up his tent nigh unto her, where good things shall rest in his lodgings for ever. He shall set his children under her shelter and shall lodge under her branches: he shall be protected under her covering from the heat and shall rest in her glory."(Ecclus 14) Yes, Mother mine, that is where I would fain dwell, close to thee, so that at all times thou canst counsel and advise me, and thus in the passage through life i may act with wisdom, and not miss the "good things" in the home eternal.

OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL PETITION PRAYER

OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL PETITION PRAYER (NEVER KNOWN TO FAIL) AND THANKSGIVINGS

The prayer should be said devoutly for three consecutive days. After that, text of the efficacious Prayer together with your Thanksgiving needs to be published without waiting for the outcome - and your petition will be granted to you. To facilitate publishing - you may send thanksgiving text to me via e-mail (available in 'view my complete profile' section on the sidebar). I will post the text below the prayer asap, or alternatively you may publish both the prayer with your Thanksgivings in a public place such as a newspaper, bulletin, etc.

PETITION PRAYER TO OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL (NEVER KNOWN TO FAIL)
Oh, most beautiful flower of Mt. Carmel, fruitful vine, splendor of Heaven. Blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in my necessity, Oh Star of the Sea, help me and show me here you are my Mother. Oh Holy Mary, Mother of God Queen of Heaven and Earth, I humbly beseech thee from the bottom of my heart to succor me in my necessity (make request). There are none that can withstand your power. Oh Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee (say three times). Holy Mary, I place this prayer in your hands (say three times). Amen.