One Minute Reflection – 23 August – St Philip Benizi OSM (1233-1285) Confessor – Readings: Ps 73:20; 73:19; 73:23, Ps 73:1, Gal 3:16-22, Luke 17:11-19
But Jesus answered and said, Were not the ten made clean? But where are the nine? Has no one been found to return and give glory to God, except this foreigner?
Luke 17:11-19
REFLECTION – Very dear brothers and lords in Christ, I Catherine, the slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, I write to you in his precious blood, with the desire to see you grateful for all the benefits that you have received from God, so that they can increase and nourish in you the source of divine love in your souls. Gratitude is very pleasant to God, and is very useful to us; But ingratitude displeases God a lot and does us great harm: Ingratitude dries up the springs of piety, and we invite God to no longer increase His graces and to deprive us of those he gave us. It is therefore necessary to apply oneself with great zeal to see the benefits of God, because by seeing them we will be grateful and by gratitude we will return glory and praise to his name.
And how will we show our gratitude and ingratitude? I'm going to tell you: we will show our ingratitude by offending the goodness of God and our neighbour, offering them in a thousand ways and by a thousand injustices, by not giving them what we are forced to return to them, that is, by not loving God over all things, and the neighbour as ourselves. Quite the opposite happens for the faithful man, grateful to his Creator; he does him justice by giving him what is due, that is the praise and the honour that God asks; He does it by loving Him above all things, and loving his neighbour as himself. He contemplates the humility of God to lower his pride; he widens his heart in charity, and he purifies himself of all defilement in the purity of Christ, in the abundance of his precious blood.
So I want my very dear brothers, that you are grateful for the graces that you have received from our creator, so that they may increase.
Saint Catherine of Siena
PRAYER – O God, Who through St. Philip, Thy Confessor, gave us an outstanding example of humility, grant that Thy household may follow his example by scorning worldly prosperity and, ever seek the things of Heaven Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen
AnaStpaul 