Liberation of St. Peter

 

Raphael's Liberation of St. Peter from prison touches me personally.  I always think of my "cloistered brothers", who are Lay Dominicans, living in prison.  

Acts 12:5-11

King James Version

5 Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.

6 And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison.

7 And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.

8 And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me.

9 And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision.

10 When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him.

11 And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews

Teacher and Student

The School of Athens is a famous painting by Raphael.  It depicts many teachers of various disciplines.  In the center of the painting are Plato and Aristotle.  Our Western philosophy and genus of Western civilization's ideas are depicted in this one painting.  If you google the painting, you can see the names of the people depicted.  I think God that He has given such talent to man.

Richard Nethercut

Dick has been missing since September 19th. Prayers are requested. Dick is a much loved, giving person. He facilitated a group in MCI Norfolk on Alternatives to Violence. He lectured against capital punishment. All this is pretty remarkable since his own daughter was raped and murdered.

Dick thinks you can not justify killing. A life for a life diminishes human kind.

Last night he won the award Volunteer of the Year, at the prison. It was pretty sad to realize that he wasn't there to receive it.

Where is he?

Today is the Feast of the Archangels: Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. May they guide Dick home.

Prayers Answered

About two weeks ago I received a Jury Confirmation card that I was suppose to fill out and bring with me when I go to serve. I couldn't find that card. I prayed to St. Anthony. I looked everywhere. No card.

I was frantic, but I thought that if I got my mind off the loss, I'd relax and maybe I'd remember where I put it. So I went out to lunch. I went shopping at Walmart. I came home and made supper. Then I settled down at the computer to finish my newsletter. Every once in awhile I'd think of that jury card and say a prayer. But no luck.

I have to digress a bit. In my newsletter, I had asked if anyone wanted a patron saint for the year to write to me. One young lady asked for one. In telling me a little about herself, she said she wasn't married and lived with her parents to take care of them. They were elderly. So I googled "patron saint for those who take care of the infirm and elderly." I wasn't expecting much, but there were a few entries.

I linked to a few of them and read, but nothing struck me. Then I read about Tobit and the Archangel Raphael. In short, Tobit took care of his father, who was blind. The Archangel Raphael came to help them. This appealed to me. If Raphael could take care of Tobit and his family then he can take care of the young lady who asked for a patron saint. But I needed to reference the chapter and verse, so I got out my Bible.

Guess what was in the Bible.