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The Ant and the Contact Lens

Brenda was almost halfway to the top of the tremendous granite cliff. She was standing on a ledge where she was taking a breather during this, her first rock climb. As she rested there, the safety rope snapped against her eye and knocked out her contact lens . "Great", she thought. "Here I am on a rock ledge, hundreds of feet from the bottom and hundreds of feet to the top of this cliff, and now my sight is blurry."

She looked and looked, hoping that somehow it had landed on the ledge. But it just wasn't there.

She felt the panic rising in her, so she began praying. She prayed for calm, and she prayed that she may find her contact lens.

When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but it was not to be found. Although she was calm now that she was at the top, she was saddened because she could not clearly see across the range of mountains. She thought of the bible verse "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth."

She thought, "Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me."

Later, when they had hiked down the trail to the bottom of the cliff they met another party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff.. One of them shouted out, "Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?"

Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across a twig on the face of the rock, carrying it!

The story doesn't end there. Brenda's father is a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a cartoon of an ant lugging that contact lens with the caption, "Lord, I don't know why You want me to carry this thing. I can't eat it, and it's awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to do, I'll carry it for You."

I think it would do all of us some good to say, "God, I don't know why You want me to carry this load. I can see no good in it and it's awfully heavy. But, if You want me to carry it, I will."

LIVES OF THE SAINTS

SEPTEMBER 1
ST. GILES
St. Giles was born in Athens, Greece, in early times. When his parents died, he used the large fortune they left him to help the poor.

SEPTEMBER 2
BLESSED JOHN DU LAU AND THE SEPTEMBER MARTYRS
Blessed John was the archbishop of Arles, France..

SEPTEMBER 3
ST. GREGORY THE GREAT
St. Gregory was born in 540 in Rome. His father was a senator. His mother is a saint, St. Celia.

SEPTEMBER 4
ST. ROSE OF VITERBO
St. Rose was born in 1235 in Viterbo, Italy. She lived at the time when Emperor Frederick had conquered land that belonged to the Church.

SEPTEMBER 5
ST. LAWRENCE JUSTINIAN
St. Lawrence Justinian was born in Venice, Italy, in 1381.

SEPTEMBER 6
BLESSED BERTRAND
Blessed Bertrand lived in the last half of the twelfth and first part of the thirteenth centuries.

SEPTEMBER 7
BLESSED JOHN DUCKETT AND BLESSED RALPH CORBY
Blessed James Duckett studied at the English college of Douay and became a priest in 1639.

SEPTEMBER 8
BIRTH OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
We do not usually celebrate the birthdays of the saints.

SEPTEMBER 9
ST. PETER CLAVER
St. Peter Claver, the Spanish priest of the Society of Jesus was born in 1580.

SEPTEMBER 10
ST. NICHOLAS OF TOLENTINO
St. Nicholas was born in 1245 in Ancona, Italy. His parents had waited long and anxiously for a child.

SEPTEMBER 11
BLESSED LOUIS OF THURINGIA
Blessed Loius, the German prince, lived during the last part of the twelfth and first part of the thirteenth centuries.

SEPTEMBER 13
ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
St. John Chrysostom was born in Antioch around 344.

SEPTEMBER 15
OUR LADY OF SORROWS
Our Lady had many great joys as the mother of Jesus, but she had much to suffer, too.

SEPTEMBER 16
ST. CORNELIUS AND ST. CYPRIAN
St. Cornelius, a holy priest of Rome, was elected Pope in 251. He accepted because he loved Christ.

SEPTEMBER 17
ST. ROBERT BELLARMINE
St. Robert Bellarmine was born in Italy in 1542.

SEPTEMBER 18
ST. JOSEPH OF CUPERTINO
St. Joseph was born on June 17, 1603, in a small Italian village to poor parents.

SEPTEMBER 19
ST. JANUARIUS
St. Januarius lived in the fourth century. He was born either in Benevento or Naples, Italy.

SEPTEMBER 20
ST. ANDREW KIM TAEGON AND ST. PAUL CHONG HASANG
St. Andrew Kim Taegon was a priest and St. Paul Chong Hasang was a lay person.

SEPTEMBER 21
ST. MATTHEW
St. Matthew was a tax collector in the city of Capernaum, where Jesus was living.

SEPTEMBER 22
ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA
St. Thomas was born in Spain in 1488.

SEPTEMBER 24
ST. PACIFICUS
St. Pacificus, a little Italian boy born in 1653 was named Charles Anthony. He was just five years old when his loving parents died.

SEPTEMBER 25
ST. SERGIUS
St. Serguis, the famous Russian saint lived in the fourteenth century.

SEPTEMBER 27
ST. VINCENT DE PAUL
St. Vincent de Paul, the son of poor French peasants, was born in 1581.

SEPTEMBER 28
ST. LAWRENCE RUIZ AND COMPANIONS
St. Lawrence Ruiz, and his fifteen companions were killed for their faith in 1637, in Nagasaki, Japan.

SEPTEMBER 29
ST. MICHAEL, ST. GABRIEL, ST. RAPHAEL
Sts. Michael, Gabriel and Raphael are called "saints" because they are holy.

SEPTEMBER 30
ST. JEROME
St. Jerome was a Roman Christian who lived in the fourth century.

ABOUT ARCHANGELS

SAINT MICHAEL
St. Michael the Archangel Story
History of St. Michael the Archangel Prayer
St. Michael the Archangel Prayers
St. Michael the Archangel Apparitions
The Chaplet of St. Michael Archangel
Novena to St Micheal the Archangel
Litany of St. Michael the Archangel

SAINT GABRIEL
St. Gabriel Prayer

SAINT RAPHAEL
St. Raphael Prayer

PHOTO OF THE MONTH

Tour of the Relics of the Passion
(International Center for Holy Relics)
www.HolyRelics.org

REFLECTIONS

“Jesus’ Baptism”

Why did Jesus, the sinless one sent from the Father in heaven, submit himself to John’s baptism? John preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Luke 3:3). In this humble submission we see a foreshadowing of the “baptism” of Jesus bloody death upon the cross. Jesus’ baptism is the acceptance and the beginning of his mission as God’s suffering Servant (Isaiah 52:13-15; 53:1-12). He allowed himself to be numbered among sinners. Jesus submitted himself entirely to his Father’s will. Out of love he consented to this baptism of death for the remission of our sins. Do you know the joy of trust and submission to God?

NEWS ARCHIVE & ACTIVITIES

EVENTS
Holy Relics of Advent in Hawaii
Miles Christi Women's Retreat

NEWS
The Sacrament of Marriage
Bishops Shield Pope Against BBC Assault
Much Work Remains in Many Areas
Vatican Appeals for Least Developed Countries

MAINPAGE ARTICLE
Immaculate Conception of Mary
Memorial of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini
Feast of St Jude the Miraculous Saint
Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima