Thursday, November 27, 2014

My Prayer for a Happy Thanksgiving







I write this to wish each everyone a blessed, holy and happy Thanksgving!

I write this aware of the pain many of us carry in our hearts during this time of Thanksgiving and throughout the Christmas season.

So, aware of this pain and the imperfect circumstances many of us have experienced on Thanksgiving - I still write this to wish you much gladness and gratitude,
even though:

This Thanksgiving, some of us were alone.
Some of us had family members who were missing through death or other circumstances -- and our hearts were broken at their absence. 

Many families are 'broken', divorced and separated - some in outward ways, and some in very hidden ways. 
Many are living in strife.
Some have been abandoned or abused.
Some are caught in the web of sin and addictions.
Some are hungry and living in poverty,
In sickness or close to death.

When our circumstances don't match up to the perfect, beautiful images of Thanksgiving we imagine or once experienced, deep sadness, or even depression can come upon us.  
While our society's images of close knit families enjoying each other and feasting around a a bountiful Thanksgiving meal are beautiful, they can lead us to have unrealistic expectations that were never promised to us by God.  

God never promised us a perfect family.  
God never promised that our lives would be free from pain or hurt, rejection or betrayal. 

Regardless of our current family situations, 
we still are blessed beyond measure in ways that go far beyond the outward circumstances in which we are living. 

Our life is a gift. 

Every breath we take is a gift from God.  
Every beat of our heart is a gift from God. 
Every good thing we have is a gift from God and it is right and just to give Him thanks!  

And this is the secret to happiness -- to be mindful of the gifts God has given us and to offer Him thanks and praise for these amazing things that we often take for granted!

To keep our eyes on Jesus instead of ourselves and our own pain.

I often think of St. Patrick, whose birth name was Maewyn Succat. As a young man he was kidnapped and enslaved for six years in a foreign land. Forced to live without shelter.  He was often alone, starving and perhaps beaten and tortured.
In this deprivation, he turned to God and rejoiced in His wondrous gifts that surrounded him even in such horrific circumstances.  
He didn't live in perfect circumstances -- but his heart was free and thankful.

Two prayers that he prayed during this time never fail to stir my heart, for they stemmed from his prayerful union with God during this time of dire need. 

One has been turned into a song.  
Every time I pray or sing it, I imagine Patrick singing and praying these words of praise to His Creator and constant companion while cold, starving and enslaved.
It reminds me of all we have to be thankful for that goes far beyond our circumstances. 

May it be a gift to you as it is to me.

http://www.21st-century-christianity.com/E-Water-Irish-Blessing.html

The Bulwark or Breastplate of St. Patrick

This day God gives me
strength of high heaven
Sun and moon shining,
flame in my hearth.
Flashing of lightning,
wind in its swiftness,
Deeps of the Ocean,
firmess of earth.

This day God sends me,
strength as my guardian,
Might to uphold me,
Wisdom as guide.
Your eyes are watchful, 
your ears are listening,
Your lips are speaking,
Friend at my side.

God's way is my way,
God's shield is round me,
God's host defends me,
Saving from ill.
Angels of heaven, 
drive from me always,
All that would harm me,
Stand by me still.

Rising I thank You, mighty and Strong One,
King of creation, Giver of rest,
Firmly confessing Oneness of Godhead 
Threeness of Persons, Trinity blest. 

There is no greater gift than Jesus becoming man to die for our sins! 

There is no greater gift than Our Savior and God desiring us so much that He found a way to be united to us in the midst of this imperfect world. He hides Himself in the appearance of Bread so He can live inside us, nourishing us and filling us His Grace, with the Father's Love and the Power of the Holy Spirit and all His gifts: joy, peace, patience, gratitude, strength, courage, fear of the Lord, etc. 

All that is good is a gift that He longs to give to us.  It is only contingent upon our acceptance of Him.  

The happiest of men are the ones who are aware and grateful for these gifts and who are living with and in the One who created us, redeemed and cherishes us more deeply than we can ever fathom.

These gifts are deeper, more profound, more healing and fulfilling than any momentary pleasure this world has to offer, and is far stronger than the deepest and darkest of outward circumstances.

To live a life in this awareness and thanksgiving to God is accomplished moment by moment and step by step. 
It is accomplished by turning to Jesus each moment of our day -- whether happy or sad. 
By reading about Him in His Holy Word, seeking Him in prayer and in the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist.  
Praying to Him whether we feel like it or not.

If we take these steps each day to seek Him and welcome Him in our soul, we will never be outdone in our efforts or generosity!
And if we fall, each moment is a new beginning and a new opportunity to start again.

Our circumstances may remain unchanged, but our interior life will become filled with the love, peace and mercy of Christ -- and a deep interior joy that cannot be stripped away from us, regardless of our circumstances, if we remain in Him.

The second prayer is really part of the first:


Christ with me, 
Christ before me, 
Christ behind me,
Christ within me, 
Christ beneath me, 
Christ above me, 
Christ on my right, 
Christ on my left, 
Christ when I lie down, 
Christ when I sit down, 
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, 
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me, 
Christ in the eye that sees me, 
Christ in the ear that hears me. 

May praying these prayers help us to truly see God's nearness and the abundance of His gifts.

May each of our days be filled with thanksgiving, not only through these holy days of Advent and the Christmas season, but always!

Much love to you all!  

A bonus gift that you can listen to at your leisure is a short sermon by a phenomenal priest for Thanksgiving Day:



St. John Clonmel
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Thu, Nov 27                           
New sermon from Rev. C. Jarrod Lies. Recorded on Nov 27, 3:58 PM
2014.11.27 - Thanksgiving Day

(click to listen)


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Lastly, I offer a section of St. Patrick's “Confessio.”  It relates what was taking place in his soul that led him to offer these beautiful prayers to God: 

"There the Lord opened the sense of my unbelief that I might at last remember my sins and then turn with all my heart to the Lord my God, who had regard for my low estate, and took pity on my youth and ignorance, and watched over me before I knew Him, and before I was able to distinguish between good and evil, and guarded me, and comforted me as would a father his son. Hence I cannot be silent – and indeed, I ought not to be – about the many blessings and the great grace which the Lord has deigned to bestow upon me in the land of my captivity;…the love of God and His fear increased in me more and more, and the faith grew in me, and the spirit was roused, so that, in a single day, I have said as many as a hundred prayers, and in the night nearly the same, so that whilst in the woods and on the mountain, even before the dawn, I was roused to prayer and felt no hurt from it, whether there was snow or ice or rain; nor was there any slothfulness in me, such as I see now, because the spirit was then fervent within me.”

Copyright 2014 Janet Moore

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

For Love of Peeta - A Catholic Commentary on the Mockingjay



I went to see the new movie, Mockingjay Part 1, on opening night.  I came away from it, however, very disturbed.  Before I go into the reasons why, I first want to speak of the series in general terms, sharing why I decided to read the books and watch the movies in the first place.

I must confess the whole idea of children fighting to the death repulsed me, so when I first heard of the popularity of the Hunger Games trilogy, I had no interest in reading the series and I wondered what had happened to peoples' judgment and prudence.

It was a couple years ago, my daughter was a 7th grader when I first heard of the Hunger Games.  The first film was just about to be released, (and I guess I must have been living under a rock until that time), because this was my first exposure to the story.  While being repulsed at its theme, I couldn't deny the wide scope of its audience.  My daughter's English teacher (who taught at a wonderful Catholic school) spoke of it fondly.  Most of my daughter's classmates were in the process of reading it or had already read the series, including the daughters of very wise, deeply committed Catholic moms whom I knew personally.

I became intrigued because of its influence on those around me, but I didn't know how to reconcile the series' theme with the positive reactions of many Catholics whom I knew to be deeply living their faith.  I decided I would cautiously and prayerfully enter into the books' themselves, before making a judgment upon them and writing them off.  However, the dozens of copies offered at our city's libraries had wait lists that were months long... and I wasn't about to give my money to promote such a horrific idea, so I began to viraciously seek out and read critiques and Catholic commentaries about the books instead.

I read many, many commentaries, but one stuck out for me.  I don't remember its author or exactly what he shared, but he convincingly wrote about the series strong Catholic and Christological themes.  Again, I can't remember exactly what was said to convince me to purchase the books, but I'm sure they reflected what I myself learned after reading the series.

It's themes include self sacrificing for the good of others, the treasuring and valuing of human life, and true freedom.

The story begins: Following a tragic civil war, the Capitol insists on remembering its citizen's revolt against the government by forcing their children to compete in an annual fight to the death. In the seventy four years since the Hunger Games inception, no one from the outer districts had ever volunteered to participate, until Katniss offers to take her sister's place in order to save her life.

Against the backdrop of the Capitol's extravagance, its insensitivity and pleasure in seeing the destruction of children, two tributes from district 12, Katniss and Peeta, are forced to compete. Throughout the films and books, these two strive to live through the Hunger Games in a way that exemplified in what Peeta said the night before entering the Games:

"I don't want them to change me... Turn me into something I'm not.  I-I-I just don't want to be another piece in their game... I just keep wishing I could think of a way to show them they don't own me.  You know, if I'm gonna die, I wanna still be me." 

Rather than glorifying the concept of children being put into an arena to fight to the death, the Hunger Games trilogy provides, in fact, an eloquent and moving story that illustrated its horror.  It is a story of good against evil.  The weak, the poor and the oppressed are physically forced into participating in these atrocities. Although their bodies forced to participate, their souls and their free will are not.

This is what was so upsetting about the way the movie ended last night.

Spoiler Alert:

Peeta's character was captured at the end of the 75th Hunger Games (the second movie/ book).  After his capture, he was systemically tortured and injected with drugs which twisted his memories and fears.  The movie ends half way through the last book, with the Capitol being able to twist his memories, his personhood, into something completely other than himself.

Peeta's kindness, his goodness and love for others, especially Katniss, is a shining light in the midst of the terrible darkness of the first two movies/ books.  It is in the last book, his love and his very personhood, becomes so twisted and violently changed, that his love for Katniss has turned into such fierce hatred that he is obsessed with killing her.

This happened in exact contrast to Peeta's deepest desire and his ability to retain his inherent goodness through the first two Games:  although he his body was forced to participate, he had been able to retain his purity and goodness of soul and his free will.

                             Found on thehungergamesexplorer.com                        

This is the greatest tragedy that can happen to a soul, a human person.

That an outside force can manipulate and change who you are as a person is the greatest of injustices that could ever occur.

Mockingjay is a very dark, sad and depressing book to read.  While not fun to read, Katniss's deep depression is probably a very accurate and honest portrayal of what a person would experience after witnessing and living through the brutality and murders of other children in the Games, of being hunted like animals, having to kill others in self defense and watch their friends and fellow citizens endure torture and death when they stood up against human injustice, and the resulting deaths of thousands of innocent people in the ensuing revolt against the Capitol.

Again, this is a series meant to illustrate the horror of the Hunger Games through juxtaposing the goodness and love of people being forced to participate in them.

By making the decision to turn the third book into two movies, the redeeming vision of goodness in the midst of evil is horribly suspended.

And in its place, the very disturbing image of Peeta, whose personhood has just been hijacked and who is out of his mind with fear and hatred and violence is the last image audience goers are left with.

The truly good and kind Peeta, whose loving personhood was intact through two Hunger Games, has been turned into a murderous, hate filled and violent tool of the Capitol.  His desire to remain unchanged and not a tool in their game has been devastatingly forced upon him.

For me, this distorted image of Peeta as the take away of the movie, is an injustice to audience members.

To leave audience members with this traumatic imagery -- showing no resolution to its tragedy, is unsettling and disturbing.  Many kids were part of the audience, and I can't help but wonder what nightmares they, or, for that matter, we as adults, experienced following these scenes.

I had just listened to a talk by Pastor Rick Warren before going to the movie.  He spoke about our culture's tendency to gloss over sin and violence that we see on tv and in movies, saying that it doesn't bother us.  He says that it should bother us!  When something sinful or tragic doesn't bother us anymore, it is a sign that our conscience has been hardened.

So what are we to do with this imagery that we are left with?

Does the movie company want us to stay disturbed with it for a year, until part two of the Mockingjay is shown in theaters?  Is that healthy for anyone?

Or, if we aren't disturbed by this imagery, isn't that the exact opposite response of the series' purpose, which highlights the horrific desensitization of a culture who viewed the Hunger Games as mere entertainment?

Isn't that one of the great purposes of the series, to demonstrate that we, as a people, must be disturbed deeply enough that when we witness injustice, we are emboldened to stand up and fight for our inherent dignity and freedom?

So, what are audience members left to do with this?

What is the purpose of breaking up the movie at this point, other than to ensure audience members will shell out millions more to see the ending of the movie?

The book itself, while incorporating this event in the life of Peeta, as a horrible effect of evil men and their attempts to manipulate and twist human goodness, didn't end there.

For those who have read the book, we know that Katniss's love and her steadfast faith in the inherent goodness of Peeta eventually breaks through Peeta's brokenness.

found at http://weheartit.com/entry/group/30820338
Although neither he nor Katniss are ever transformed completely back into innocence or wholeness.

The two eventually spend their lives together in quiet simplicity.

Forever marked by the evil and violence that they had been forced to participate in, yet they are able to live together in peace and in love.


Copyright 2014 Janet Moore

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

The Grace of Yes: A Modern Day Parable

The Grace of Yes!  

We are products of the Grace of Yes!
If our parents hadn't said 'Yes' to us, or at least if our mom hadn't said 'Yes' to us, we wouldn't be here.  

Even if our home and family isn't picture perfect... Even if it is or was the exact opposite of perfect, still a 'Yes' was said for you -- for your life!  

The Grace of Yes!

The Greatest 'Yes' that each of us are meant to know is the 'Yes' of God -- Who created us and formed us in our mothers' wombs for goodness, for glory, for LOVE, for life and to bear fruit!  

We are products of this eternal Yes of God!  If He hadn't said 'YES' to us, or if He ever ceased to say 'YES' to us, we wouldn't exist.  

And one of the greatest gifts God has given us is our Free Will -- our ability to say 'Yes' or 'No'. 


At our creation, we are created in the image and likeness of God, with our own ability to say 'Yes' 

to say 'Yes' to God, 
to say 'Yes' to our lives, 
to our families, 
to our work, 
our daily duty, 
to our eternities... 
or we have the freedom to say 'No' to any or all of them.

Our modern culture is filled with tragic examples of people saying 'No' to some or all of these choices.


But do they know what they are saying 'Yes' or 'No' to?  
Do we know what we are saying 'Yes' or 'No' to?  
Do we recognize that what we choose to say 'Yes' or 'No' to will change the course of our lives?

Here is a story that a priest shared in his homily this past Sunday. 
I had heard it before, but it never ceases to impact me:


Once there was a wealthy man who commissioned a magnificent home to be built from only the finest of materials. He told the builder, who happened to be a very poor man, to spare no expense at building the house.  Then, he gave him unlimited resources for him to use.

Instead of using the best materials, the builder decided that he could make money by cutting corners. So, instead of using the finest materials, he used inferior ones.  
He covered up gaps in his work and masked mistakes with paint.  

When the house was finished, the builder handed the wealthy man the keys to the house. Underneath its beautiful appearance, its poor workmanship would soon reveal a leaky and drafty home that would be unable to keep out the heat, the cold or rain. 

However, the wealthy man had never meant the home to be for himself. 
Upon seeing the poor builder's need, he had commissioned the home to be for the builder himself.  He had provided the most lavish of materials and resources to the builder, so he could build a beautiful and sturdy home, a dream home, that would shelter and protect him and his family for the rest of their lives.  

So, instead of taking the keys for himself, the wealthy man handed the keys back to the builder, saying,

“Welcome home! I saw your need and wanted to provide you with a home that would protect you and that you could enjoy for the rest of your life. I wanted it to be a source of grace and blessing to you and your family in your need.”

How terribly the builder must have felt.  
If he had only known the home was meant for him...
he wouldn’t have cut corners… 
he wouldn’t have used the cheapest materials… 
he would have done his best…
he would have listened to the rich man's instructions!
If only he had said 'Yes' to the rich man's goodness?

This story never fails to impact me ... 

Each one of us can come away with deep, profound and varied implications of this story if we take the time to reflect on its meaning.

It impacts me because I know there are times that I fail to realize the greatness and the generosity of God... and because I recognize there have been and still are many times that I have exchanged His Loving plan for me -- His instructions -- for something less than... 

How often I fail to realize that He has given EVERYTHING to me?!

My life, my breath, a heart that beats, a mind to reason and a spirit that longs for Him!  

He gives me His daily grace to know and believe in Him if I seek Him in prayer, in His Word and in His Sacraments!  

The riches of the Sacraments are truly limitless resources that I can tap into whenever I am in need, but they are also there to enjoy in times of plenty.  For the Lord freely sets a table before us, containing the richest, most lavish feast of life and light, strength and nourishment that can be attained this side of eternity. 

What do I do with these amazing riches?  
Do I even recognize them?
Do I recognize that they are there for me to use?  
Do I utilize them or do I cut corners and go for the cheap and easy things to fill my heart and my life?
Do I say 'Yes' or 'No' to building my life on these unlimited riches of grace that God provides for me?

Do I cooperate with God and say 'Yes' to Him?
Do I give of myself over to His plan to build something of beauty from the vast riches He has given to me?
Do I cooperate with His forgiveness, His providence, His care for me?
Do I accept His Body, His Word, His Church or do I reject it for other lesser things  -- building a home on the shifting sand of modern day lies that promise happiness?



Do I carry my cross each day?
Do I perform my daily duty to the best of my ability, or with laziness and neglect – seeking to just get by and do the bare minimum?
Do I say 'Yes' or 'No' to the shoddiness of my selfishness, sin and dishonest gain?

Do I realize that LOVE is God, and that any love, any family, any friends, any people that are in my life are a grace beyond measure? 

Do I cherish the gift of the people God has placed in my life?  
Do I recognize them as gifts?  
Do I make time for them?
Do I love them selfishly or selflessly?  
Do I die to myself, so that I can say 'Yes' to Love even when it hurts? 
Or do I choose other lesser, inferior things such as comfort and ease, pleasure or pride on which to build my life? 

Whether we realize it or not, our daily decisions build a home for us – both here on this earth, but also in eternity. 

God gives us everything we need, but He asks us to cooperate with His Goodness and His Gifts through the grace of saying 'Yes' to Him and His plans for us!

The good news for us is that His Mercy is new everyday!  
So, no matter where we are at this moment, we can begin again to say 'Yes' to His Grace.

Today we are celebrating those who say "Yes to God!" 
It is being called the Grace of Yes Day!  To find out more information about this day, or to find out about the beautiful book that Lisa Hendey wrote that inspired this day, please see: 
https://www.avemariapress.com/graceofyesday/

Join the effort to spread the goodness of people who have said Yes to God!  
Help us blanket the internet with uplifting stories and pictures of people to celebrate God's grace --labeling it ‪#‎GraceofYesDay‬!  If you are a blogger, please visit here for more resources. 



Copyright 2014 Janet Moore


Saturday, November 15, 2014

The Teacher of St. Thomas Aquinas: St. Albert the GREAT!



St. Thomas Aquinas is widely known and hailed as one of the most brilliant theologians of the Church, writing the Summa Theologica, a work that sought to encompass the whole of Theology (the Study of God).  

Do you ever wonder who taught St. Thomas?  

Who formed him and helped him to achieve such wisdom and knowledge?  

We don't hear about him nearly as much as we should, but it is the saint we celebrate today -- his  teacher was St. Albert the Great!  St. Albert, even to his contemporaries was known as the GREAT because of his brilliance!  



He was a brilliant theologian and scientist.  He sought to compile all the knowledge of the time, including astronomy, mathematics, economics, logic, rhetoric, ethics, politics, metaphysics and all branches of natural science into one great body of work which took him over 20 years to complete.


The media often portrays the Church as an enemy of science.  But that couldn't be farther from the truth.  It was men of the Church, intellectual worshippers God, who marveled at God's creation and sought to study its beauty and magnificence!  He saw no discrepancy between the study of science and the study of God.

"In this, we should follow the example of St. Albert the Great, who saw in everything that he studied the God who made it and to whom it is ultimately ordered. Surely, as Pope Leo XIII remarked, “Truth cannot contradict truth”; hence, let us join the “teacher of everything” by allowing everything we study to lead us to the contemplation of God, the Supreme Truth."

For all his intellectual greatness, it was his heart for God that made him one of the greatest of saints.  So great, in fact, that the Church has named him as one of only 35 Doctors of the Church.  Being named a Doctor of the Church is a recognition of the saint's teaching was so extraordinary that it was meant for "any age of the Church."

Albert was born around the year 1200.  He pursued his studies at the University of Padua and entered the Dominicans in 1223.  He taught in many universities and was eventually sent to the University of Paris, to earn his doctorate in 1245 with Thomas Aquinas. In 1248, they both returned to Cologne to House of Studies for the Dominican order, where Albert was named Regent and Thomas was named second professor and Master of Students. In 1254, Albert was elected Provincial of the Dominican Order in Germany. In 1256, he traveled to Rome to defend the Order against attacks and while there was named the Pope's theologian and preached on the Gospel of St. John and the Epistles.  He resigned as Provincial in 1257 in order to devote himself to study and teaching.  During his long life, he continued to teach, would become Bishop, help form the direction of studies for the Dominicans, sent letters to aid St. Thomas in his fight against heretics, and took an active part in the Council of Lyon with Pope Gregory X (1274).  It was on the way to the Council that he heard that St. Thomas had died. It:
was a heavy blow to Albert, and he declared that "The Light of the Church" had been extinguished. It was but natural that he should have grown to love his distinguished, saintly pupil, and it is said that ever afterwards he could not restrain his tears whenever the name of St. Thomas was mentioned. Something of his old vigour and spirit returned in 1277 when it was announced that Stephen Tempier and others wished to condemn the writings of St. Thomas, on the plea that they were too favourable to the unbelieving philosophers, and he journeyed to Paris to defend the memory of his disciple. Some time after 1278 (in which year he drew up his testament) he suffered a lapse of memory; his strong mind gradually became clouded; his body, weakened by vigilsausterities, and manifold labours, sank under the weight of years. He was beatified by Pope Gregory XV in 1622; his feast is celebrated on the 15th of November. The Bishops of Germany, assembled at Fulda in September, 1872, sent to the Holy See a petition for his canonization; he was finally canonized in 1931.


From the Breviary today, we have the great treasure of actually reading his own words and being blessed by his teaching: 
From a commentary of the gospel of Luke by Saint Albert the Great, bishop
(22,19; Opera omnia, Parisiis 1890-1899,23,672-674)

He was a shepherd and doctor who built up the body of Christ


Do this in remembrance of me. Two things should be noted here. The first is the command that we should use this sacrament, which is indicated when he says: Do this. The second is that this sacrament commemorates the Lord’s going to death for our sake.

Do this. Certainly he would demand nothing more profitable, nothing more pleasant, nothing more beneficial, nothing more desirable, nothing more similar to eternal life. We will look at each of these qualities separately.

This sacrament is profitable because it grants remission of sins; it is most useful because it bestows the fullness of grace on us in this life. The Father of spirits instructs us in what is useful for our sanctification. And his sanctification is in Christ’s sacrifice, that is, when he offers himself in this sacrament to the Father for our redemption, to us for our use. I consecrate myself for their sakes. Christ, who through the Holy Spirit offered himself up without blemish to God, will cleanse our consciences from dead works to worship the living God.

Nor can we do anything more pleasant. For what is better than God manifesting his whole sweetness to us. You gave them bread from heaven, not the fruit of human labor, but a bread endowed with all delight and pleasant to every sense of taste. For this substance of yours revealed your kindness toward your children, and serving the desire of each recipient, it changed to suit each one’s taste.

He could not have commanded anything more beneficial, for this sacrament is the fruit of the tree of life. Anyone who receives this sacrament with the devotion of sincere faith will never taste death. It is a tree of life for those who grasp it, and blessed is he who holds it fast. The man who feeds on me shall live on account of me.

Nor could he have commanded anything more lovable, for this sacrament produces love and union. It is characteristic of the greatest love to give itself as food. Had not the men of my tent exclaimed: Who will feed us with his flesh to satisfy our hunger? as if to say: I have loved them and they have loved me so much that I desire to be within them, and they wish to receive me so that they may become my members. There is no more intimate or more natural means for them to be united to me, and I to them.

Nor could he have commanded anything which is more like eternal life. Eternal life flows from this sacrament because God with all sweetness pours himself out upon the blessed.

When putting this post together, I ran across the amazing quote and early picture of our Holy Father, Pope Francis, as a priest who rode the bus each day to get to work.  
What a wonderful summary of St. Albert the Great!  
What truth and humility!  
One of the greatest minds of all time proclaims that it is the lover of God, who lives the Gospel in joy who can truly comes to know the mysteries of God! 
May this give us all hope and great joy!  It is not so much in our intellect, but in our love for God, that we become truly wise and come to know His Mysteries!
St. Albert the Great, pray for us!

There is so much to read about St. Albert the Great, I couldn't hope to give a adequate summary of his greatness.  These facts and more can be found at New Advent.
Copyright 2014 Janet Moore