Are things good where you are?

Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel:

Reform your ways and your deeds,
so that I may remain with you in this place.

Put not your trust in the deceitful words...

(from today's first reading - Jeremiah 7:1-11)

Man of Lebanon

He was born in a village high in the mountains of Lebanon.

When he was only three, his father died, having been captured by imperialistic infidels.

As he grew older, his uncle worried about the young man's growing religious fanaticism.

When he was 23, he secretly joined a band of men who were holed up in a mountain stronghold. He would take a Syrian name.

This mysterious man in the black robes would travel little, but people from all over Lebanon and beyond would come to him for direction.

He would suffer a stroke while celebrating Mass and died on Christmas eve in 1898.

He would be beatified at the end of the Second Vatican Council and canonized in 1977.

The memory of Saint Charbel Makhlouf (also spelled Sharbel Makhluf), Maronite priest and hermit, is celebrated by many on this day.

(from an earlier post)

If only you would heed
the voice of the LORD, your God,
and keep his commandments and statutes
that are written in this book of the law,
when you return to the LORD, your God,
with all your heart
and all your soul.

from today's first reading (Deuteronomy 30:10-14)

Time to boast

May I never boast
except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
through which the world has been crucified to me,
and I to the world.

from today's first reading (Galatians 6:14-18)

He entered the University at 15

Two years later, he became a Franciscan. He would go on to be ordained and to teach philosophy and theology.

But God wanted him to do more.

In his mid-thirties, he volunteered for the Missions. He had barely arrived when he was bit by the wrong mosquito. His leg swelled, giving him a life-long limp. Still, he carried out his duties diligently.

He did so well that when the opportunity came for a renewed missionary effort at the edge of "civilization," he was chosen to lead it: even though he was already in his mid-fifties, lame and suffering from asthma.

He established twenty-one missions in that strange land, converting and educating thousands of people there.

He had to work within a cultural and governmental system that was sometimes corrupt and prejudiced, but he himself was faithful, devout, and did great good.

More and more people gathered around the missions he had established and some of them became great cities that kept their religious names, such as San Francisco.

Father Junipero Serra died of tuberculosis in 1784 and is buried in Carmel, California. He was beatified by the great Pope John Paul II in 1988 and his memory is celebrated on this day.

(from an earlier post)

What shall we pray for this month?

The Holy Father's general prayer intention for July is for Justice in Elections:

"That elections in every nation may be carried out with justice, transparency, and honesty, respecting the free decisions of citizens."

His missionary intention focuses on Urban Culture:

"That Christians may strive to promote everywhere, but especially in our cities, education, justice, solidarity, and peace."