Quote/s of the Day – 8 July– Proverbs 31:10-31, Matthew 13:44-52
“Jesus said in parables:
The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a treasure,
hidden in a field.”
Matthew 13:44
“What is a man’s treasure
but the heaping up of profits
and the fruit of his toil?
For, whatever a man sows,
this too will he reap and each man’s gain,
matches his toil and where delight
and enjoyment are found,
there the heart’s desire is attached.
Now, there are many kinds of wealth
and a variety of grounds for rejoicing –
every man’s treasure is that, which he desires.
If it is based on earthly ambitions,
its acquisition makes men not blessed but wretched.
… By distributing what might be superfluous
to support the poor, they are amassing
imperishable riches, so that what they have
discreetly given, cannot be subject to loss.
They have properly placed those riches,
where their heart is – it is a most blessed thing,
to work to increase such riches,
rather than to fear that they may pass away.”
St Pope Leo the Great (400-461)
Father and Doctor of the Church
“Look at the fig tree and all the trees,
when they produce their fruit you know that summer is near.
So too, when you see these things happening,
know that the Kingdom of God is near.”
Luke 21:29-31
“He means that just as the coming of summer
is recognised by the fruit on the trees,
so is the nearness of the Kingdom of God recognised
by the destruction of the world.
These words show that the fruit of the world is destruction –
it increases only to fall, it produces, only to destroy
by its disasters whatever it produces.
The Kingdom of God is aptly compared to summer,
because it is then that the clouds of our sorrow pass away
and the days of life shine
with the brightness of the Eternal Sun. …
Therefore, my friends, do not love
what you see cannot long exist.
Keep in mind the Apostle John’s precept,
in which he counsels us not “to love the world
or the things in the world because,
if anyone loves the world,
the love of the Father is not in him” (1 Jn 2:15).”
St Gregory the Great (540-604)
Pope, Father and Doctor of the Church
“But seek first the Kingdom of God
and His righteousness
and all these things shall be added to you.”
Matthew 6:33
“But, [you will tell me],
there is so much to do, so many household jobs,
so much business in town, in the fields –
work everywhere! Do we have to abandon it all, then,
so as to think of nothing but God?”
No – but these occupations have to be sanctified
by seeking God in them and doing them
to find Him in them, rather than, to see them done.
What our Lord wants, is for us to seek His glory,
His Kingdom, His righteousness, before all else
and, for this, to make our foundation the interior life,
faith, trust, love, religious exercises …, labours and sufferings,
with God our Sovereign Lord in view…
Once we are firmly set in the search for God’s glory,
we can be assured that the rest will follow.”
St Vincent de Paul (1581-1660)
AnaStpaul 