One Minute Reflection – 26 April – Thursday of the Fourth Week of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Rafael Arnáiz Barón (1911-1938)
The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us, who are being saved, it is the power of God…1 Cor 1:18
REFLECTION – …(I am) “a humble lay brother who has chosen the road of truth in the dark night of the world…only the Cross of Christ sheds light on the path of this life….God is in the detached heart, in the silence of prayer, in the voluntary sacrifice to pain, in the emptiness of the world and its creatures. God is in the Cross and, as long as we do not love the Cross, we will not see Him, or feel Him…. If the world and men knew…. But they will not know; they are very busy in their interests; their hearts are very full of things that are not God.”…St Rafael Arnáiz Barón (1911-1938)
PRAYER – Lord God, we were sinners and Your grace made us holy. We were without hope and You filled us with joy. Stand by us in Your saving work and stay with us in Your gifts of grace. May we never fail to persevere in the path of holiness that comes from following You, carrying our crosses behind the Cross of Your Son and looking forward in hope to the promise His Resurrection. Grant Lord, that our faith may increase and our courage grow, by the prayers of St Rafael Arnáiz Barón. Through Jesus our Lord, one God with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, forever and ever, amen.
AnaStpaul 