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September 22, 2014
Marian Shrine E-Newsletter
Volume 3, Issue 8
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In our minds, there's often a split between extremes. It's a natural human inclination. We tend to see things as "good" or "bad" with very little room for the gray area.
We move away from pain and towards pleasure...
We tend to identify things as either sacred or profane.
The list goes on.
The thing is, this mindset is representative of our split minds and hearts. We split things off because a part of us can't handle the possibility that it *all* can be within our immediate experience at the same time.
Not that it always is. Only that it can be. And we discount that possibility.
So when people suggest that profanity is "bad," I point out that it's merely a judgment we place on a specific configuration of letters. For example:
THIS.
S**T.
Same letters. Different word. Different symbols. And yet many of us will see one of those words as "good" and another as "bad."
But is it really the letters' and words' fault? :)
Are they really "bad" simply for being what they are?
I don't believe so. Nor do I believe that any human being is inherently "bad" regardless of what trespasses (or even atrocities) that person may have committed.
Lost, yes. Bad, no.
Similarly when we look at our relationship to pleasure and pain we often see them as being just one-sided. Something is either pleasurable or painful. Most relationships, we can rationalize as having "good and bad" yet we don't look at the possibility usually that they can be both *at the same time*
Yet inherent within our experience of being human is a sense of pleasure. Sometimes it's very obvious such as indulging in a great dessert, a chocolate cake.
Other times, it's more subtle. It's a nuance or hint that there's a gift to being alive. That something precious about being human is inherently pleasurable.
No more evident was this to me than a fewweeks ago when I was sick. VERY sick. I was suffering from psoriasis,
Part of me felt like it was the end of the world. I knew it wasn't. It just felt that way. And with the frequency of shedding skin, it seemed like it would never end.
Then one moment, I noticed how hot I felt - so I took my shirt off and lay on the bed. Then I noticed that the coolness of the breeze on my skin felt pleasurable.
As I continued to notice the specific sensations of coolness, it felt very pleasurable...
And odd.
I was fully experiencing the pleasure of aliveness, of the sensations of coolness and warmth playing together -- while at the same time fully feeling the wretchedness of my illness.
The combination of this feeling of death and life was profound. And profane (at least my thoughts were...!).
Anyway, enough rambling for now. I figured today was as good a day as any to share with you something I'm playing with...
This possibility that we can experience some degree (even a little bit!) of pleasure in ANY moment of ANY day, regardless of how painful our life experience might simultaneously be.
I am sure you experienced something like this.
Good or bad, it is worth wrestling with.
God bless you,
Fr. Jim McKenna SDB
Director
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Saint ot the Dayt
Septmber 22nd
St. Thomas of Villanueva
Augustinian bishop. Born at Fuentellana, Castile, Spain, he was the son of a miller. He studied at the University of Alcala, earned a licentiate in theology, and became a professor there at the age of twenty-six. He declined the chair of philosophy at the university of Salamanca and instead entered the Order of St Augustine at Salamanca in 1516. Ordained in 1520, he served as prior of several houses in Salamanca, Burgos, and Valladolid, as provincial ofAndal usia and Castile, and then court chaplain to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (r. 1519-1556). During his time as provincial of Castile, he dispatched the first Augustinian missionaries to the New World. They subsequently helped evangelize the area of modern Mexico. He was offered but declined the see of Granada, but accepted appointment as archbishop of Valencia in 1544. As the see had been vacant for nearly a century, Thomas devoted much effort to restoring the spiritual and material life of the archdiocese. He was also deeply committed to the needs of the poor. He held the post of grand almoner of the poor, founded colleges for the children of new converts and the poor, organized priests for service among the Moors, and was renowned for his personal saintliness and austerities. While he did not attend the sessions of the Council of Trent, he was an ardent promoter of the Tridentine reforms throughout Spain.
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 Keep Waling
The Organs of your body have their sensory touches at the bottom of your foot.
If you massage these points you will find relief from aches and pains as you can see the heart is on the left foot.
Typically they are shown as points and arrows to show which organ it connects to.
It is indeed correct since the nerves connected to these organs terminate here.
This is covered in great details in Acu-pressure studies.
God created our body so well that he thought of even this.
He made us walk so that we will always be pressing these pressure points and thus keeping these organs activated at all times.
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 Laughter the best medicine
Laundry Comments
A young couple moves into a new neighborhood.
The next morning while they are eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbor hanging the wash outside.
"That laundry is not very clean," she said. "She doesn't know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap." Her husband looked on, but remained silent.
Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comments.
About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband: "Look, she has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her his?"
The husband said, "I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows."
School Notes
The following notes from parents excusing their children from attending school have been around a while but if you haven't seen them, I'm sure you will get a kick out of them:
"Please excuse Freddie from being away yesterday because he had the fuel."
"Please accuse Michael from being absent on January 30 because he was aleing."
"George was absent yesterday because of a sore trout."
"Please excuse Betsey from being absent. She was sick and I had her shot."
"Joseph has been absent becuz he had two teeth taken off his face."
"My son is under doctor's care and should not take fisical education. Please execute him."
"Please excuse Ralph from school on Friday. He had very loose vowels."
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 Devotion of the Three Hail Mary's
The devotion of the THREE HAIL MARYS is a very simple yet most efficacious devotion.
Everyday, recite Three Hail Marys, adding the invocation: "O Mary, My Mother, keep me from mortal sin." Many people recite the Three Hail Marys as part of their morning and night prayers. To practice this devotion in time of danger, stress, special need or temptation, is a sure means to obtain Our Lady's help.
My sincere thanks to Our Lady Help of Christians and Don Bosco for a successful surgery and a special thank you to Dominic Savio for a favor granted. C.C. NY I am sincerely grateful to Mother Mary and Don Bosco for the gift of a daughter to my daughter Joanna. Carmen, NJ
Thank you, dear Mother Mary for all the graces received. Clint Fernandez, PA Thank you dear Infant Jesus and Mother Mary for curing little Melanie of her recent illness. L. Ahimaz, K.L. Malaysia |
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In Closing
Dear devotees of Our Lady and Don Bosco,
If you have received a miracle through the intercession of Our Blessed Mother, we would like to hear from you. Email us at MaryShrine@aol.com.
Bookstore hours: Monday - Saturday - 10 am to 5 pm, Sundays: 12 - 4 pm
Weekday Masses: 12 noon. Confessions on weekdays begin at 11.30 am.
Sunday Masses: 11 am and 12.30 pm
Other activities: Weekend retreats, Don Bosco Summer Camp, Rent Lomagno Hall, Eucharistic Adoration, Friday night Lenten Dinners, 50/50 raffle, 350 club, Rosary Madonna Statue.
MEMORIES
Remember a Loved One: Engrave plaques on Wall of Memories, adopt a Tree, Engrave blocks on Walk of Honor, All Souls, All year Candle lighting, Holiday (Christmas and Easter), Flowers, Schedule a Mass, Bell Chimes.
MASS INTENTIONS
To offer a mass intention, please write to
Fr. Jim McKenna SDB
174 Filors Lane,
Stony Point, NY 10980
mckennasdb@yahoo.com.
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