Quote/s of the Day – 16 June – ‘Let us love our enemies, bless those who curse us…’

Quote/s of the Day – 16 June – “Month of the Sacred Heart” – Tuesday of the Eleventh week in Ordinary Time, Year A, Readings: 1 Kings 21:17-29, Psalm 51:3-6, 11, 16, Matthew 5:43-48

“You shall not hate your brother in your heart
but you shall reason with your neighbour,
lest you bear sin because of him.
You shall not take vengeance
or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people
but, you shall love your neighbour as yourself:  I am the Lord”

Leviticus 19:17-18

“But I say to you, love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you…”

Matthew 5:44

“So hold fast to the sweet and salutary bond of love,
without which, the rich are poor
and with which the poor are rich.
What do the rich possess if not charity? …
And since “God is love,” (1 Jn 4:8)
as John the evangelist says,
what can the poor lack,
if they merit to possess God by means of charity? …
So love, dearest brethren
and hold fast to charity
without which, no-one will ever see God.”

St Caesarius of Arles (470-543)
Monk and Bishop

Sermons addressed to the people, no. 23, 3

“We must show love
for those who do evil to us
and pray for them.
Nothing is dearer
or more pleasing to God than this.”

St Bridget of Sweden (c 1303-1373)

“… I declare to you,
that there is no other way of salvation
than the one followed by Christians.
Since this way teaches me to forgive my enemies
and all who have offended me,
I willingly forgive the king
and all those who have desired my death.
And I pray that they will obtain
the desire of Christian Baptism.”

St Paul Miki SJ (1564-1597) Martyr

“All our religion is but a false religion
and all our virtues are mere illusions
and we ourselves are only hypocrites in the sight of God,
if we have not that universal charity for everyone –
for the good and for the bad,
for the poor and for the rich
and for all those who do us harm,
as much as those who do us good.”

St John Vianney (1786-1859)

“When we talk about the coming of the Kingdom
and pray for its coming,
we are not thinking of a discrimination
according to race or blood
but of the brotherhood of all,
for all men are our brothers –
not excluding even those who hate and attack us –
in a close bond with the One,
who causes the sun to rise on the good
and the bad alike (Mt 5:45).”

Blessed Titus Brandsma (1881-1942) Martyr

“Let us love our enemies,
bless those who curse us,
pray for Those who persecute us.
For love will conquer
and will endure for all eternity.
And happy are they who live
and die in God’s love.”

Blessed Franz Jägerstätter (1907-1943)
“Called-up to a Higher Order”
Martyr of Conscientious Objection