Palm Sunday and the Legend of the Donkey
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From The Sermons of Saint Francis de Sales for Lent for Palm Sunday, 1622 (pp 170-172)
Why our Lord chose to ride a donkey for His entry into Jerusalem:
“The first is because of its humility. The ass, though heavy, sluggish and lazy, has great humility. It is neither proud nor vain; in this it is unlike the haughty horse. . . .Now our Lord, who was humble and came to destroy pride , chose not to use this proud animal to carry Him. He chose the most simple and the most humble of all animals because He so loved lowliness and humility that only a humble mount could serve Him. God dwells and abides only in the simple and humble of heart. . .
“The second quality is its patience. . . allowing itself to be beaten and maltreated without ever forgetting its origin. It neither complains, nor bites, nor kicks. . . Our 
Lord so loved patience that He wished to become its mirror and pattern.He endured scourging and ill-treatment with invincible patience; He supported so many blasphemies, so many calumnies, without saying a word.
“The third reason is that this animal is obedient, permitting us to burden it as we want without offering any resistance. It carries the load with remarkable submission and suppleness.So much did our Divine Master love obedience and suppleness that He Himself chose to give us an example of it. So He bore the heavy burden of our iniquities and suffered for them all that we had merited. . . Only when clothed with these qualities of humility, patience and submission can we be worthy to carry our Lord. Then the Savior will mount upon our hearts and, as a divine riding master, conduct us under His obedience.”
The Legend of the Donkey
All purebred donkeys are born with a cross on their back. A legend says it is the gift our Lord gave to the humble donkey that 
carried Him into Jerusalem. According to the legend, the little donkey so loved his Master that he followed Him to Calvary. Grief-striken at the sight, he turned away but remained at his station at the foot of the cross. The shadow of the Cross fell upon him and from that day all purebred donkeys wear the Master’s Cross on their back.
All You Creatures Great and Small, Praise the Lord!
Racoon on the Roof!
This morning our sister-laundresses spotted a raccoon on the way to the laundry. It was walking down the sidewalk! Had they really seen a raccoon? Yes! We went for a walk on our grounds after supper as the weather was so nice. At our little cemetery our dog, Lady, began to bark, looking up at the roof. We thought it was a squirrel when, looking from the lower level of the roof we spotted the masked bandit. He, or maybe she, appeared rather large to us but when our intrepid photographer went inside to the large Tribune for the sick and opened the window, its real size emerged. We think it climbed a tree to get over the wall to the roof and was then going to 
descend via a dogwood tree. It’s not on the roof now! Thank you, Lord, for adding to our recreation! Check our Facebook page for more photos.
“My Faithful Servant and Perfect Friend” – Saint Claude La Colombiere
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Such were the words our Lord addressed to Saint Margaret Mary concerning Saint Claude la Colombiere whose feast is February 15th. Through these two saints our Lord would reveal the love of His Sacred Heart. On one occasion, when Claude was celebrating Mass at the convent, Our Lord showed Saint Margaret Mary “his Sacred Heart like a burning furnace, and two other hearts which were going to be united with It and lost in that abyss, saying ‘It is thus that my pure love unites these three hearts forever.'” – her heart and Claude’s heart, united forever in the Heart of Christ.
From Saint Claude la Colombiere:
“O adorable Jesus, by your Blood, by your Wounds, and by your Sacred Heart, I ask You to grant that by consecrating to You all that I am, I may this day become a new work of Your love. Amen.”
O Jesus, grant that I may die praising You, that I may die loving You, that I may die for love of You. Amen.”