St. Giles

He was a Greek saint and was born in an Athenian noble family, in the year 650 A.D. Legend says that he was the son of King Theodore and Queen Pelagia of Athens. He was spending a lot of his time in solitude in a forest near Nimes and there his only companion was a red deer. One day a hunter shot an arrow aimed at the red deer but the arrow wounded the saint. As per one story about him, the said red deer gave St. Giles her milk to sustain him. St. Giles ate only vegetarian diet and was very much reputed for his personal sanctity. He was credited with many miracles. A King named Wamba, a Visigoth King, constructed a monastery for St. Giles and placed it under the Benedictine Rule. St. Giles rejected all honors conferred on him. He died in the year 710.

St. Giles is revered as a patron of physically handicapped.

#Catholic #trust #saint #physicallyhandicapped
#patron #universe #world #peace #vegetarian #personal #sanctity #personalsantity #pure #diet #deer

Hello, I would like to share with you the message from 1 septembre 2026 from “The Good Seed” daily calendar.


In the day of my trouble I sought the Lᴏʀᴅ. (Psalm 77:2)

Abandoned by all?
The incarcerated man stands before the prison chaplain. He holds a letter in his hand and says, “Reverend, I wanted to see you one last time today.” – “What’s wrong? Are you sick?” – “For eight years, I’ve only been able to see the sky through these bars. So far, I’ve endured it. There was someone who thought of me, wrote to me, and waited for me. – But here is the last letter. My wife has left me. Now my life has no meaning.”
 The chaplain knew the man. He was not one of those who talked about suicide to gain an advantage. So he replied, “I’m so sorry to hear that everyone has given up on you. But remember: God hasn’t given up on you! He’s seeking you. He’s waiting for you. And I believe now is the time for you to turn to Him. I’ll pray for you. But I also have a request for you: read the Gospel of Luke which I’m giving you here.”
 Two days later – on a Sunday morning – the man was in the prison chapel, where the pastor spoke about the saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The face of the prisoner shone. In the solitude of his cell, God had met him in his despair and had given him more than his longed-for freedom: eternal salvation.
 The man had found peace with God and had become a beloved child of God.

Today’s reading: Judges 3:12-31 – 2 Corinthians 3:7-18

Summer's officially winding down and, much of the country starts the transition between long, lazy days of summer and juggling the chaos of deadlines, frantic schedules, and extracurricular activities.

For me, I will jump into my 24th year in the classroom.

24 years of slow, sluggish days of recovery from the previous school year to the mach-3 craziness of a typical school day: a frazillion questions—some of which actually have something to do with the subject—as well as a litany of excuses, accommodation requests, apathy, and a cacophony of laughter directed at me because of something stupid I inadvertently or did.
Of course, it also comes meaningful and insightful classroom discussions, fond memories, and watching a light bulb come as a connection is made between the head and the heart.

I pray for many more school years to come.

Typically on the first day of school, the most frequent prompt that comes up is: what I did last summer.

This prompt produces a variety of responses, ranging from vacations, camping trips, swimming, tubing, fishing, and the county fair.

I’ve been thinking about this question a lot lately as well as what would be my answer.

All things considered, I had an eventful summer.
I embarked on another road trip, a budding impromptu tradition that takes me along American’s backroads exploring places I have never seen before. These annual road trips have become therapeutic for me.

The weekend after I returned, I went to my 40th High School Reunion, reliving old memories and seeing classmates I honestly thought I would have never seen again.

Next, my wife and I spent our 28th Anniversary exploring the old territorial capitol of Montana, Virginia City.

However, despite all of that activity, if I had to honestly define my summer, I would describe it as a time to heal.

This last spring, I lost my mother the same week my wife lost her job. It was a world turned upside-down.

In addition to the typical annual stress of teaching during a second semester, I had to be an emotional strength and encourager for my wife as we grieved the loss of my mother. We had to juggle a household that, for a time, dealt with a 60% income drop, a loss of insurance, and an uncertain future.

Now, I will emphatically state that God came through for us during that ordeal. He absolutely did.

However, those months also took a great toll on my being. I didn’t feel like myself at home or at work. My filters were down. My emotions were raw, shriveled and depleted. I was subdued and weak. I just wanted to crawl under a rock.

But the summer brought a time of restoration of heavy solitude. It brought with wonderful experiences alone, with my wife, and with God.

The teacher in Ecclesiastes writes of seasons in life:

“A time to be born and a time to die,
A time to plant and a time to uproot, A time to kill and a time to heal,
A time to tear down and a time to build, A time to weep and a time to laugh,
A time to mourn and a time to dance, A time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, A time to search and a time to give up,
A time to keep and a time to throw away, A time to tear and a time to mend,
A time to be silent and a time to speak, A time to love and a time to hate,
A time for war and a time for peace.” (Ecclesiastes 3:2–8)

Life is filled with seasons. As much as we try, they are unavoidable. Frankly, it is easy to cling to God when life is wonderful; however, true spiritual growth comes when life isn't peachy.

We always enjoy mountain top experience; however, it is also important to remember that nothing grows on a mountain top. The rich, fertile soil lies in the valley.

It often seems superficial that use suffering to test us or to teach us a lesson. More often, he quietly sits with us in difficult seasons for us to cling to.

So what is the answer to that question asked in nearly every classroom in America? I healed.

My summer was a time for restoration, a time for healing.

In a matter of days, the school year kicks off and a new season begins.

And with the new year, when the next season arrives, my grip on God—with prayer and knowledge he is with me—remains tighter than ever.

The Story Behind the Hymns.
THE STORY BEHIND " O LOVE THAT WILL NOT LET ME GO"

Some hymns are written with a pen while others seem to come from a wounded heart.

“O Love That Will Not Let Me Go” was written in 1882 by George Matheson, a Scottish minister whose life had taken him through blindness, disappointment and deep personal sorrow. When he wrote those words, he was not writing about suffering from a distance. He knew what it meant to watch life change in ways he never expected.

Matheson was born in Glasgow in 1842. As a young man, his eyesight began to fail, and he eventually became completely blind. Yet he refused to allow blindness to end his purpose. He studied at the University of Glasgow, entered the ministry and became a respected preacher and writer.

His private life also carried a deep wound. Biographical accounts have connected his early heartbreak with the end of an engagement after his eyesight deteriorated. Whatever the precise circumstances, Matheson knew the pain of seeing a future he had hoped for disappear.

Then came June 6, 1882.

It was his sister's wedding day. While his family attended the celebration, Matheson remained alone at the manse in Ingram, Scotland.

It was during that quiet evening that the hymn came to him.

Matheson later said he wrote it in about five minutes and made almost no changes afterwards. From that moment of solitude came words that would eventually comfort millions:

“O Love that wilt not let me go,
I give Thee back the life I owe.”

Those words are striking because Matheson was not asking God to give him a life without suffering. He was surrendering the life he had, with all its unanswered questions.

He had lost his sight, he had known heartbreak and he could not see what the future held.

Yet he could still trust.

The hymn moves gently from surrender to faith:

“O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to Thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.”

Matheson did not deny the rain but he acknowledged it. He believed that beyond it was a promise worth holding on to and that is what makes the hymn so deeply moving.

It speaks to anyone who has ever sat alone with a broken heart, watched a cherished dream disappear or wondered how they would find the strength to face another day.

Matheson could not see with his eyes, yet he wrote about a rainbow.

He could not see the morning, yet he believed it was coming and perhaps that is simply the miracle at the heart of this hymn: a man living in darkness gave the world words about hope.

“O Love that wilt not let me go.”

More than 140 years later, those words still carry the same promise.

When life becomes too heavy to understand, when the road ahead is hidden and the heart is tired, there remains a love that does not abandon us.

A love that holds on.

A love that sees us through the rain.

A love that will not let us go.

Both paths cost you something.

The only real choice is which bill you are willing to keep paying.

Singleness demands patience, self-discipline, contentment while you wait, and the maturity to build a whole life without a partner to lean on.

Marriage demands surrender, communication even when you're exhausted, forgiveness on repeat, and the daily choice to keep choosing someone who won't always feel easy to choose.

Neither state is the "easy" one.

People often chase marriage assuming it will finally relieve them of the demands of singleness, only to discover it simply replaced one set of demands with another, heavier and more relational set.

And some people stay single assuming it protects them from marriage's demands, not realizing solitude has its own weight to carry.

Paul understood this. In 1 Corinthians 7, he doesn't rank marriage above singleness or singleness above marriage, he simply describes each state as carrying its own concerns, its own devotion, its own cost.

The wisdom isn't in picking the "lighter" option, because there isn't one.

It's in knowing yourself, knowing what season you're in, and being honest about which demand you're actually equipped and willing to meet right now.

Marriage is demanding. Staying single is demanding. You just have to choose which DEMAND you want to SUPPLY.

*When Alone...*

"Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you; for I called him alone, and blessed him and increased him" (Isaiah 51:2).

God chose a single man—Abram—to form the nation of Israel. God selected and called him from the city of Babylon, where he lived amidst idol worship, and made him a father of nations. His name, Abram, was changed to *Abraham*.

Instead of choosing a vast multitude, God called a solitary man and exalted his name. The reason was simply *so that His name might be glorified through it*.

When the people of the entire world were destroyed, only Noah’s family was preserved alive. God blessed this *isolated family of Noah and commanded them to be fruitful and multiply* (Genesis 9:1).

Scripture states that *Jacob was alone when God blessed him* (Genesis 32:24). Similarly, the Lord blessed David when he was *wandering alone in mountains and caves, fleeing from Saul*.

Solitude should draw us closer to God. When the Lord blesses us, He does so without looking at our *family background, education, wealth, or personal strength*; He is a God who blesses us simply because He chooses to. His name is *El Shaddai (God Almighty)* (Genesis 17)

*Give thanks to Him who alone does great wonders, for His mercy endures forever* (Psalm 136:4)

Amen

A Life That Reveals God Has a Greater Impact Than Lips That Merely Speak About Him!

The Christian life is not merely about speaking about God; it is also about revealing through our lives that God lives within us.

It is not only important how beautifully we speak about the name of God. What truly matters is whether people can see God through our conduct, words, decisions, relationships, forgiveness, integrity, and love.

Jesus said:

> “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
(Matthew 5:16)



Notice this the purpose of our good works is not for people to glorify us, but for them to glorify our Heavenly Father.

Our lives must become a living testimony.

If we speak about love, that love must be revealed in the way we forgive even those who hurt us.
If we speak about faith, it must be revealed by trusting God even when circumstances are against us.
If we speak about holiness, it must be revealed by living a holy life even when no one is watching.
If we speak about God's grace, it must be revealed by showing grace even to those who have wronged us.

Our lives should never contradict the message our lips proclaim.

Joseph did not spend his time in Egypt merely preaching about God. Yet through his integrity, purity, wisdom, and fear of God, those around him recognized that the hand of God was upon his life.

Daniel was the same. He did not simply say that he trusted God; even under pressure, he refused to compromise his prayer life. His life became the evidence of his faith.

The world often sees our lives before it listens to our preaching.

Therefore, every day we must ask ourselves:

When someone looks at my life, do they see me or do they see Christ living within me?

Glorifying God is not something we do only during Sunday worship. It must happen at home, at work, in our relationships, in solitude, in trials, and in times of success everywhere and at all times.

More powerful than what you say is the way you live; your life is the strongest testimony of your faith.

Let us proclaim God with our words and glorify Him through our lives.

Hepsi Sam

“The judgments of God have terrified me. The darkness of death has overtaken me: and the fear of hell has invaded me. But in solitude I will expect thy consolation: and in my chamber I will wait for thy mercy.”

—St. Bonaventure

#SaintBonaventure #HolyMass #SureshDungdung

Behold, I am with you all the days, until the completion of the age.

Lifting up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus alone.

Matthew 28:20 ᴊɴᴅ; Matthew 17:8 ᴊɴᴅ

Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, but all His thoughts were on the pilgrim Church which He was about to leave behind. He seems to be saying, I am going to the presence of My Father in heaven, but, nevertheless, I am with you always! John, the apostle who had leaned on His bosom, spoke with emphasis about the Lord who was absent, “Our fellowship is indeed with … Jesus Christ” (1 Jn. 1:3).

Amid so much that is fleeting in this world, how reassuring it is to know that the Savior is always with us, to know that, if I am indeed a child of God, there is not a single instant when I am without the guardianship of the Lord Jesus! His is no fitful companionship—present in prosperity, gone in adversity. He is with us in sickness and solitude, in joy and in adversity, in life and in death.

Are you troubled and tempted? Do dark providences and severe afflictions seem to belie the truth of the reality of His gracious assurances? Be assured that He has some faithful end in view. By the removal of prized and cherished props and refuges, He would unfold more and more of His own tenderness. Amid the wreck and ruin of earthly joys, which, it may be, the grave has hidden from your sight, One nearer, dearer, tenderer still would have you say of Himself, “The Lᴏʀᴅ liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted” (Ps. 18:46 ᴋᴊᴠ). The believer of today can exclaim, “Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in the Christ” (2 Cor. 2:14). This is especially true when we are stripped of all competing objects of creature attention and left with “Jesus alone.”

J. R. MacDuff


https://gbv-online.org/calendar/773/date/2026-08-07

Conflict and Courage.
2 Kings 2:1-15

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52.
In the desert, in loneliness and discouragement, Elijah had said that he had had enough of life and had prayed that he might die. But the Lord in His mercy had not taken him at his word. There was yet a great work for Elijah to do; and when his work was done, he was not to perish in discouragement and solitude. Not for him the descent into the tomb, but the ascent with God's angels to the presence of His glory.

“And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces. He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan; and he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the Lord God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over. And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The Spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.”

When the Lord in His providence sees fit to remove from His work those to whom He has given wisdom, He helps and strengthens their successors, if they will look to Him for aid and will walk in His ways. They may be even wiser than their predecessors; for they may profit by their experience and learn wisdom from their mistakes.6Ibid., 228.

Elijah, the man of power, had been God's instrument for the overthrow of gigantic evils.... As successor to Elijah was needed one who by careful, patient instruction could guide Israel in safe paths. For this work Elisha's early training under God's direction had prepared him....

Every act of life is a revelation of character, and he only who in small duties proves himself “a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,” will be honored by God with weightier trusts.7Education, 60, 61.