Quote/s of the Day – 31 July – “Month of the Precious Blood” and the Memorial of St Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556)
To have prevented one single sin is reward enough for the labors and efforts of a whole lifetime.
God freely created us so that we might know, love, and serve him in this life and be happy with him forever. God’s purpose in creating us is to draw forth from us a response of love and service here on earth, so that we may attain our goal of everlasting happiness with him in heaven. All the things in this world are gifts of God, created for us, to be the means by which we can come to know him better, love him more surely, and serve him more faithfully. As a result, we ought to appreciate and use these gifts of God insofar as they help us toward our goal of loving service and union with God. But insofar as any created things hinder our progress toward our goal, we ought to let them go.
Laugh and grow strong.
If God causes you to suffer much, it is a sign that He has great designs for you, and that He certainly intends to make you a saint. And if you wish to become a great saint, entreat Him yourself to give you much opportunity for suffering; for there is no wood better to kindle the fire of holy love than the wood of the cross, which Christ used for His own great sacrifice of boundless charity.
He who goes about to reform the world must begin with himself, or he loses his labor.
For it is not knowing much, but realising and relishing things interiorly, that contents and satisfies the soul.
Quote/s of the Day – 30 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood”– The Memorial of St Peter Chrysologus (c 400-450) “Golden Words,” Father & Doctor of the Church
Impiety always suffers from a fever, cruelty is always possessed by madness. Fury does not know that it is depriving itself of clemency, for indeed he rages against himself as often as he aims for another, he punishes himself by striking down the innocent, he is completely destroying himself when he is cruel to a just person. See how John, as you yourself say, is now alive in Christ. He who has come to cure all with heavenly grace returns to punish you.
In concluding our remarks, we bring to your attention that the serpent ran in vain, for our John here destroyed all the brood of the ancient serpent, and by shedding his own blood, he who was murdered killed them all.
God recieves sinners, but God does not allow those whom he recieves to remain sinners.
Brothers, he sought us on earth, let us seek him in heaven. He has borne us to the glory of His divinity, let us bear him in our body with perfect holiness. The one who bears no sin through the action of his flesh bears God in his body.
‘He receives sinners and eats with them.’ This is how the envious see, how the haughty perceive, how the harsh understand, and how the malicious think.
‘Give it me on a dish.’ Why on a dish? Why do you carry about in a precious vessel the one whom you have killed so cheaply, except for the reason that ‘precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints’? This very thing that you want, you do not accomplish as you yourself want, since a heavenly purpose is at work doing something other than what you want.
Summon the sky and invoke the earth, so that both the earth be amazed and the sky marvel at the new kind of mercy presented by the Lord. What mind perceives, what ear grasps, what teaching has communicated the lesson to which the evangelist draws his Christian audience when he says: Love your enemies. Mortal perception does not absorb this, the human heart does not grasp this, the fleshy condition rejects this, the world’s hearing does not let this in. The feeble mind is insufficient to love those who love it, and fickle human nature is able only with difficulty to be charitable to those who are charitable.
You certainly were the only human being who saw the Holy Ghost come down in bodily form from heaven upon him. You are the one who grasped the Father with your ears, the Son with your hands, and the Holy Ghost with your eyes at one and the same moment in an unparalleled manifestation of power.
Quote/s of the Day – 29 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Memorial of St Martha
Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; and yet only one thing is needful.
Luke 10:38-42
Another sign of (St Vincent Ferrer’s) unbounded hope in God’s providence was the little solicitude he evinced in the course of his great apostolate, either for his own personal maintenance, or that of the numerous company who followed him. His confidence in his heavenly Father never failed him. Neither he nor his companions were ever in want, and on one occasion, our Lord came miraculously to their aid.
Fr Andre Pradel (St Vincent Ferrer: His life, Spiritual Teaching and Practical Devotion)
Do not fear what may happen tomorrow. The same loving Father who cares for you today will care for you tomorrow and every day. Either He will shield you from suffering, or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace, then, and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginings.
Saint Francis de Sales
Hold your eyes on God and leave the doing to Him. That is all the doing you have to worry about.
Saint Jeanne de Chantal
The greater and more persistent your confidence in God, the more abundantly you will receive all that you ask.
Saint Albert the Great
Those whose hearts are enlarged by confidence in God run swiftly on the path of perfection. They not only run, they fly; because, having placed all their hope in the Lord, they are no longer weak as they once were. They become strong with the strength of God, which is given to all who put their trust in Him.
Quote/s of the Day – 28 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Readings: Ps 78:11; 78:12; 78:10, Ps 78:1, Wis 10:17-20, Luke 21:9-19
God gave the holy ones the recompense of their labors, conducted them by a wondrous road, and became a shelter for them by day and a starry flame by night. He took them across the Red Sea and brought them through the deep waters – but their enemies He drowned in the sea, and cast them up from the bottom of the depths.
Wis 10:17-20
If we speak of legal justice, it is evident that it stands foremost among all the moral virtues, for as much as the common good transcends the individual good of one person. On this sense the Philosopher declares that “the most excellent of the virtues would seem to be justice, and more glorious than either the evening or the morning star.” But, even if we speak of particular justice, it excels the other moral virtues for two reasons. The first reason may be taken from the subject, because justice is in the more excellent part of the soul, viz. the rational appetite or will, whereas the other moral virtues are in the sensitive appetite, whereunto appertain the passions which are the matter of the other moral virtues. The second reason is taken from the object, because the other virtues are commendable in respect of the sole good of the virtuous person himself, whereas justice is praiseworthy in respect of the virtuous person being well disposed towards another, so that justice is somewhat the good of another person.
St Thomas Aquinas (Summa Theologica, Question 58 – Justice)
It seems as if from Bethlehem and Nazareth we were to be continually looking on to the end of all things, and reminding ourselves that that sweet and gentle Child, around Whose opening days are clustered so many tender thoughts of thankfulness and hopefulness and love, is to come hereafter, terrible to His enemies, a fire going before His face, Heaven and earth rolling up like a scroll before Him, & ‘with the voice of an Archangel and the trumpet of God’ calling on the dead to arise and come to judgment.
Fr Coleridge SJ. 1822 -1893 (The Return of the King)
Cruelty lies not only in allowing the bad to do what they will, but in another thing too quite as much; to overlook, and leave uncared for, him who has done no wrong, but who is without cause or reason suffering ill. For tell me; were any one to gather together wicked men from all quarters, and arm them with swords, and bid them go about the whole city, and massacre all that came in their way, could there be anything more like a wild beast than he? And what if some other should bind, and confine with the utmost strictness those whom that man had armed, and should snatch from those lawless hands them, who were on the point of being butchered; could anything be greater humanity than this?
St John Chrysostom (Homily 16 on Matthew)
Do not suppose, my sisters, that because you do not seek favour with the world you will be left to starve; I can reassure you about that. Never try to sustain yourselves by any human artifice, or you will perish of famine as you would deserve. Look to your Spouse; He must maintain you: if He is pleased with you, those who like you least will give you food even against their will, as you have learnt by experience.
St Teresa of Avila (The Way of Perfection)
Oh grateful and delightsome service of God, whereby man is made truly free and holy! Oh sacred condition of the religious servant, which maketh man equal to the Angels, well-pleasing unto God, terrible to evil spirits, and acceptable to all faithful ones! Oh service to be embraced and ever desired, in which the highest good is promised, and joy is gained which shall remain for evermore!
Now all these things happened to them as a type, and they were written for our correction, upon whom the final age of the world has come.
1 Cor. 10:6-13
At length the whole earth will be on fire and a general conflagration will ensue, such as never has been seen or heard of. The heat of the raging flames will be so intense that the stones and rocks will melt, and the sea and all waters upon the earth will boil and hiss. All men then living, every beast upon the land and every fish in the sea will be destroyed in this universal conflagration. Thus the whole world will be brought to a terrible end, and everything on this earth will be either consumed or purified by the fire. After this has happened, the appearance of the earth will be completely changed.
Fr Martin Von Cochem (The Four Last Things)
For not as yet had that great and precious thing, man, come into the world of being; it was not to be looked for that the ruler should appear before the subjects of his rule; but when his dominion was prepared, the next step was that the king should be manifested. When, then, the Maker of all had prepared beforehand, as it were, a royal lodging for the future king, he thus manifests man in the world, to be the beholder of some of the wonders therein, and the lord of others; that by his enjoyment he might have knowledge of the Giver, and by the beauty and majesty of the things he saw might trace out that power of the Maker which is beyond speech and language.
St Gregory of Nyssa (On the Making of Man)
In those days the Lord shall bring on a burning wind from the desert against them, and shall make their veins dry, and shall make their springs desolate; and all their goodly vessels shall be spoiled. Because they rose up against God, they shall fall by the sword, and their women with child shall be ripped up. Hosea 13:15 And what else is this burning wind from the east, than the Antichrist that is to destroy and dry up the veins of the waters and the fruits of the trees in his times, because men set their hearts on his works? For which reason he shall indeed destroy them, and they shall serve him in his pollution.
Pseudo-Hippolytus (On the End of the World)
The devils will have unusual power, the immaculate purity of our Order, and of others, will be so much obscured that there will be very few Christians who will obey the true Sovereign Pontiff and the Roman Church with loyal hearts and perfect charity. At the time of this tribulation a man, not canonically elected, will be raised to the Pontificate, who, by his cunning, will endeavour to draw many into error and death. Then scandals will be multiplied, our Order will be divided, and many others will be entirely destroyed, because they will consent to error instead of opposing it.
St Francis of Assisi
The bishop St. John Fisher was woken up in prison at 5 am to be told he would be executed that morning. He thanked the guard for informing him and then asked to be allowed to sleep another hour because he was tired. St Dominic Savio, faced with the question of what he would do with one hour of life left to him, replied, ‘I would continue playing football.’
Quote/s of the Day – 26 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Readings: Ps 53:6-7, Ps 53:3, 1 Cor. 10:6-13, Luke 19:41-47
For days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a rampart about you, and surround you and shut you in on every side, and will dash you to the ground and your children within you, and will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you have not known the time of your visitation.
Luke 19:41-47
As therefore with regard to the prisoner, when you see him with irons on his back, on his hands, and often on his feet too, you therefore most of all account him miserable; so also as to the rich man, when you see him encompassed with innumerable affairs, let him not be therefore rich, but rather for these very things wretched, in your account. For together with these bonds, he has a cruel jailor too, the wicked love of riches; which suffers him not to pass out of this prison, but provides for him thousands of fetters, and guards, and doors, and bolts; and when he has cast him into the inner prison, persuades him even to feel pleasure in these bonds; that he may not find so much as any hope of deliverance from the evils which press on him.
St John Chrysostom (Homily 14 on Matthew)
On account then of all these things let us entreat the Redeemer of our souls, that He would both burst asunder our bands, and remove this our cruel jailor, and having set us free from the burden of those iron chains, He would make our spirits lighter than any wing. And as we entreat Him, so let us contribute our own part, earnestness, and consideration, and an excellent zeal. For thus we shall be able both in a short time to be freed from the evils which now oppress us, and to learn in what condition we were before, and to lay hold on the liberty which belongs to us.
St John Chrysostom (Homily 14 on Matthew)
And He entered the temple, and began to cast out those who were selling and buying in it, saying to them, It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of thieves.
Luke 19:41-47
It is great honour, great glory to serve Thee, and to despise all for Thy sake. For they shall have great grace who of their own will shall submit themselves to Thy most holy service. They who for Thy love have cast away every carnal delight shall find the sweetest consolation of the Holy Ghost. They who enter the narrow way of life for Thy Name’s sake, and have put away all worldly cares, shall attain great liberty of spirit.
Thomas a Kempis (Third Book: Chapter X)
Therefore all religion is for the sake of the soul; for howsoever the nature of the body may be, it causes no care or anxiety, especially after death, to him, whose soul possesses that whereby it is blessed.
Jesus answering, said: You know not what you ask. Can you drink the chalice that I shall drink? They say to him: We can. He saith to them: My chalice indeed you shall drink; but to sit on my right or left hand, is not mine to give to you, but to them for whom it is prepared by my Father.
Matt 20:20-23
For the arrogant is of necessity base, and, on the contrary, the lowly-minded is high. For this is the height that is true and genuine, and exists not in name only, nor in manner of address. And that which is from without is of necessity and fear, but this is like to God’s. Such a one, though he be admired by no one, continues high; even as again the other, though he be courted by all, is of all men the basest. And the one is an honor rendered of necessity, whence also it easily passes away; but the other is of principle, whence also it continues steadfast.
St John Chrysostom (Homily 65 on Matthew)
For this we admire the saints also, that being greater than all, they humbled themselves more than all. Wherefore even to this day they continue to be high, and not even death has brought down that height.
St John Chrysostom (Homily 65 on Matthew)
I am going to tell you that Jesus Christ, by His sufferings and His death, has made all our actions meritorious, so that for the good Christian there is no motion of our hearts or of our bodies which will not be rewarded if we perform them for Him.
St John Vianney
Justin said, No right-thinking person falls away from piety to impiety. Rusticus the prefect said, Unless you obey, you shall be mercilessly punished. Justin said, Through prayer we can be saved on account of our Lord Jesus Christ, even when we have been punished, because this shall become to us salvation and confidence at the more fearful and universal judgment-seat of our Lord and Saviour. Thus also said the other martyrs: Do what you will, for we are Christians, and do not sacrifice to idols.
The Martyrdom of Justin
O blessed ones, count whatever is hard in this lot of yours as a discipline of your powers of mind and body. You are about to pass through a noble struggle, in which the living God acts the part of superintendent, in which the Holy Ghost is your trainer, in which the prize is an eternal crown of angelic essence, citizenship in the heavens, glory everlasting.
Tertullian (To the Martyrs)
Very pleasing to Me, dearest daughter, is the willing desire to bear every pain and fatigue, even unto death, for the salvation of souls, for the more the soul endures, the more she shows that she loves Me; loving Me she comes to know more of My truth, and the more she knows, the more pain and intolerable grief she feels at the offenses committed against Me.
Quote/s of the Day – 24 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Readings: Dan 3:84, 87, Dan 3:57, 1 Pet. 5:1-11, Luke 22:24-30
For whoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Rom 8:12-17
For since every virtue is a habit that is the principle of a good act, a virtue must needs be defined by means of the good act bearing on the matter proper to that virtue. Now the proper matter of justice consists of those things that belong to our intercourse with other men, as shall be shown further on. Hence the act of justice in relation to its proper matter and object is indicated in the words, “Rendering to each one his right,” since, as Isidore says, “a man is said to be just because he respects the rights [jus] of others.”
St Thomas Aquinas (Summa Theologica Question 58. Justice)
What sort of deeds then does he mean us to mortify? Those which tend toward wickedness, those which go after vice, which there is no other way of mortifying save through the Spirit. For by killing yourself you may put an end to the others. And this you have no right to do. But to these (you can put an end) by the Spirit only. For if This be present, all the billows are laid low, and the passions cower under It, and nothing can exalt itself against us.
St John Chrysostom (Homily 14 on Romans)
Against such the Lord complains by the prophet, saying, They have reigned, and not by Me; they have been set up as princes, and I knew it not Hosea 8:4. For those reign of themselves, and not by the Will of the Supreme Ruler, who, supported by no virtues, and in no way divinely called, but inflamed by their own desire, seize rather than attain supreme rule.
St Gregory the Great (Pastoral Rule, Book I)
Do you want to be happy, my friends? Fix your eyes on Heaven; it is there that your hearts will find that which will satisfy them completely. All the evils which you experience are the real means of leading you there.
St John Vianney
“No-one can have God as his father, if he does not have the Church as his mother… The Lord warned us of this when He said: “Whoever is not with me, is against me and whoever does not gather together with me, scatters.” The person who breaks the peace and concord of Christ, acts against Christ; the person who gathers together, outside of the Church, scatters the Church of Christ.”
St Cyprian of Carthage (On the unity of the Church)
Quote/s of the Day – 23 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Readings: Dan 3:84, 87, Dan 3:57, 1 Pet. 5:1-11, Luke 22:24-30
“God, resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in the time of visitation; cast all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.
1 Pet. 5:1-11
Be sober, be watchful! For your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goes about seeking someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same suffering befalls your brethren all over the world. But the God of all grace, Who has called us unto His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will Himself, after we have suffered a little while, perfect, strengthen and establish us. To Him is the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
1 Pet. 5:1-11
Beloved: I exhort the presbyters among you – I, your fellow-presbyter and witness of the sufferings of Christ, the partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed in time to come – tend the flock of God which is among you, governing not under constraint, but willingly, according to God; nor yet for the sake of base gain, but eagerly; nor yet as lording it over your charges, but becoming from the heart a pattern to the flock. And when the Prince of the shepherds appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the presbyters.
1 Pet. 5:1-11
This being plain, it will likewise be manifest that a great and unspeakable reward will be reserved for him whose labors are concerned with these sheep, upon which Christ places such a high value. For when we see any one bestowing care upon members of our household, or upon our flocks, we count his zeal for them as a sign of love towards ourselves: yet all these things are to be bought for money:— with how great a gift then will He requite those who tend the flock which He purchased, not with money, nor anything of that kind, but by His own death, giving his own blood as the price of the herd.
St John Chrysostom (On the Priesthood, Book II)
Yes, my dear brethren, all these rash judgments and all these interpretations come only from a person who has a secret pride, who does not know himself, and who dares to wish to know the interior life of his neighbour, something which is known to God alone. If only, my dear children, we were able to arrive at the stage of eradicating this first of the capital sins from our hearts, our neighbour would never do any wrong according to us. We should never amuse ourselves by examining his conduct. We should be content to do nothing else save weep for our own sins and work as hard as we could to correct them.
St Jean Vianney ( The Sermons of the Curé of Ars)
No one presumes to teach an art till he has first, with intent meditation, learned it. What rashness is it, then, for the unskilful to assume pastoral authority, since the government of souls is the art of arts! For who can be ignorant that the sores of the thoughts of men are more occult than the sores of the bowels? And yet how often do men who have no knowledge whatever of spiritual precepts fearlessly profess themselves physicians of the heart, though those who are ignorant of the effect of drugs blush to appear as physicians of the flesh!
Quote/s of the Day – 22 July –“Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Feast of St Mary of Magdala -– Readings: Ps 118:95-96., Ps 118:1, Song 3:2-5; 8:6-7, Luke 7:36-50
Set me as a seal on Your heart, as a seal on Your arm; for stern as death is love, relentless as the nether world is devotion; its flames are a blazing fire. Deep waters cannot quench love, nor floods sweep it away. Were one to offer all he owns to purchase love, he would despise it as nothing.
Song 3:2-5; 8:6-7
And turning to the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house; you gave Me no water for My feet; but she has bathed My feet with her tears, and has wiped them with her hair. You gave Me no kiss; but she, from the moment she entered, has not ceased to kiss My feet. You did not anoint My head with oil; but she has anointed My feet with ointment. Wherefore I say to you, her sins, many as they are, shall be forgiven her, because she has loved much. But he to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” And He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” And they who were at table with Him began to say within themselves, “Who is this man, who even forgives sins?” But He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Luke 7:36-50
“To magnify her Royal Lover still further, the soul must have eyes only for Him, in other words, with an ever-growing, anxiously eager attentiveness. the soul must study all the details of His beauty, His perfections, must keep on discovering motives for finding ever-increasing gratification in the ineffable Beauty with which it is in love.”
St Francis de Sales
LOVE is strong as death: since both equally separate the soul from the body and all terrestrial things, the only difference is, that the separation is real and effectual when caused by death, whereas that occasioned by love is usually confined to the heart. I say usually, because divine love is sometimes so violent that it actually separates the soul from the body, and, by causing the death of those who love, it renders them infinitely happier than if it bestowed on them a thousand lives.
Half-hours with the Saints (Charles Kenny)
“We become what we love and who we love shapes what we become.”
St Clare
Love the Lord and so, learn to love yourselves that when, by loving the Lord, you shall have loved yourselves, you may securely love your neighbour as yourselves.
Quote/s of the Day – 21 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” and the Memorial of St Lawrence of Brindisi OFM Cap (1559-1619) Doctor of the Church
You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt lose its savour, wherewith shall it be salted?
Matt 5:13-19
For by saying, You are the salt of the earth, He signified all human nature to have lost its savor, and to be decayed by our sins.For which cause, you see, He requires of them such virtues, as are most necessary and useful for the superintendence of the common sort. For first, the meek, and yielding, and merciful, and righteous, shuts not up his good deeds unto himself only, but also provides that these good fountains should run over for the benefit of others. And he again who is pure in heart, and a peacemaker, and is persecuted for the truth’s sake; he again orders his way of life for the common good. Think not then, He says, that you are drawn on to ordinary conflicts, or that for some small matters you are to give account.You are the salt of the earth.
St John Chrysostom (Homily 15 on Matthew)
As the lot of the reprobate is to die in sin, that of the elect is to expire in the love and grace of God, which is effected in several ways. Many of the Saints died, not only in the state of charity, but in the actual exercise of divine love.St. Augustine expired in making an act of contrition, which cannot exist without love; St. Jerome, in exhorting his disciples to charity and the practice of all virtues; St. Ambrose, in conversing sweetly with his Saviour, whom he had received in the Holy Eucharist; St. Antony of Padua also expired in the act of discoursing with our Divine Lord, after having recited a hymn in honour of the ever-glorious Virgin; St. Thomas of Aquinas, with his hands clasped, his eyes raised to heaven, and pronouncing these words of the Canticles, which were the last he had expounded: “Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field”.
Half-Hours With the Saints and Servants of God (Charles Kenny)
You are the light of the world. A city seated on a mountain cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all that are in the house. So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
Matt 5:13-19
“The Angels in Heaven were created, to be servants of Christ; man was formed from the earth, in order to be the image of Christ.”
St Lawrence of Brindisi
For that men should be set free from the rottenness of their sins was the good work of Christ; but their not returning to it again any more was the object of these men’s diligence and travail.
Quote/s of the Day – 20 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Readings: Lam 2:11, Ps 112:1, Isa 58:7-11, Matt 19:13-21
At that time, little children were brought to Jesus, that He might lay His hands on them and pray; but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said to them, Let the little children be, and do not hinder them from coming to Me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.
Matt 19:13-21
Christian simplicity makes childhood its own. Children are without rancour, ignorant of deceit, not daring to strike. So, this child whom the Christian has become, does not fall into a rage if someone insults him, does not resist, if something is taken from him, does not return blows, if someone strikes him. Our Lord even demands us to pray for our enemies, give up our tunic and cloak to anyone who would steal it, turn the other cheek to those who would slap it. The childhood of Christ surpasses human childhood. …
St Maximus of Turin(Homily 58 for Easter)
The young man said to Him, All these I have kept; what is yet wanting to me? Jesus said to him, If you will be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.
Matt 19:13-21
For this is the limit of true wisdom; to be simple with understanding; this is angelic life; yes, for the soul of a little child is pure from all the passions. Towards them who have vexed him he bears no resentment, but goes to them as to friends, as if nothing had been done; and how much soever he be beaten by his mother; after her he seeks, and her does he prefer to all. Though thou show him the queen with a diadem, he prefers her not to his mother clad in rags, but would choose rather to see her in these, than the queen in splendor. For he uses to distinguish what pertains to him and what is strange to him, not by its poverty and wealth, but by friendship. And nothing more than necessary things does he seek, but just to be satisfied from the breast, and then he leaves sucking. The young child is not grieved at what we are grieved, as at loss of money and such things as that, and he does not rejoice again at what we rejoice, namely, at these temporal things, he is not eager about the beauty of persons.
St John Chrysostom (Homilies on Matthew:62)
Therefore He said, of such is the kingdom of Heaven, that by choice we should practise these things, which young children have by nature. For since the Pharisees from nothing else so much as out of craft and pride did what they did, therefore on every hand He charges the disciples to be single hearted, both darkly hinting at those men, and instructing these. For nothing so much lifts up unto haughtiness, as power and precedence. Forasmuch then as the disciples were to enjoy great honors throughout the whole world, He preoccupies their mind, not suffering them to feel anything after the manner of men, neither to demand honors from the multitude, nor to have men clear the way before them.
St John Chrysostom (Homilies on Matthew:62)
“The role of Christ, our Teacher, is, as its name suggests, to be the guide of children. But, we have yet to consider, what children Scripture is talking about and then, to give them their Teacher. The children in question are ourselves. Scripture draws attention to us in a great many ways, making use of various images to refer to us and highlighting the simplicity of faith in many different shades.
St Clement of Alexandria (The Pedagogue I, 12, 17)
“God wishes to test you, like gold in the furnace. The dross is consumed by the fire but the pure gold remains and its value increases. It is in this manner that God acts with His good servant, who puts his hope in Him and remains unshaken in times of distress. God raises him up and, in return for the things he has left, out of love for God, He repays him a hundredfold in this life, with eternal life hereafter.”
And I say to you, make friends for yourselves with the mammon of wickedness, so that when you fail they may receive you into the everlasting dwellings.
Luke 16:1-9
REFLECTION – Brethren and friends, let us by no means be wicked stewards of God’s gift to us. If we are we will have to listen to Saint Peter saying: “Be ashamed, you who hold back what belongs to another, take as an example the justice of God and no one will be poor. While others suffer poverty, let us not labor to hoard and pile up money, for if we do, holy Amos will threaten us sharply in these words: “Hear this, you who say: ‘When will the new moon be over that we may sell; and the Sabbath, that we may open up our treasures?’”
Let us imitate the first and most important law of God, “who sends his rain on the just and on sinners and makes the sun shine on every person equally”. God opens up the earth, the springs, the streams and the woods to all who live in the world. He gives the air to the birds, the water to the fish, and the basic needs of life abundantly to all, without restriction or limitation or preference. These basic goods are common to all, provided by God generously and with nothing lacking. He has done this so that creatures of the same nature may receive equal gifts and that he may show us how rich is his kindness…So imitate this divine mercy.
He who has mercy on the poor, lends to God, it says. Who would not accept such a debtor, who will repay the loan in due time with interest?And again: By alms and faith sins are cleansed. Let us then be cleansed by showing mercy, let us wash away with the good herb the filth and defilements of our souls; and let us be made white, some as wool, some as snow, according to the proportion of our compassion.
St Gregory Nazianzen (Homily 14, on love for the poor)
PRAYER – My Lord Jesus Christ, You have made this journey to die for me, with love unutterable and I have so many times unworthily abandoned You but now I love You with my whole heart and because I love You, I repent sincerely for having ever offended You. Pardon me, my God and permit me to accompany You on this journey. You go to die for love of me, I wish also, my beloved Redeemer, to die for love of Thee. My Jesus, I will live and die always united to You.” Amen – By St Alphonsus Mary Liguori (1696-1787) Most Zealous Doctor of the Church
Quote/s of the Day – 19 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Readings: Ps 47:10-11, Ps 47:2, Rom 8:12-17, Luke 16:1-9
Brethren: We are debtors, not to the flesh, that we should live according to the flesh, for if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the flesh, you will live. For whoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Now you have not received a spirit of bondage so as to be again in fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons, by virtue of which we cry, Abba! Father! The Spirit Himself gives testimony to our spirit that we are sons of God. But if we are sons, we are heirs also: heirs indeed of God and joint heirs with Christ.
Rom 8:12-17
O God, we ponder Your kindness within Your temple. As Your name, O God, so also Your praise reaches to the ends of the earth. Of justice Your right hand is full.
Ps 47:10-11
And this instruction he gives us here also, meaning, Let it have attention shown it indeed, for we do owe it this, yet let us not live according to the flesh, that is, let us not make it the mistress of our life. For it must be the follower, not the leader, and it is not it that must regulate our life, but the laws of the Spirit must it receive.
St John Chrysostom (Homily 14 on Romans)
The prison does the same service for the Christian which the desert did for the prophet. Our Lord Himself spent much of His time in seclusion, that He might have greater liberty to pray, that He might be quit of the world. It was in a mountain solitude, too, He showed His glory to the disciples. Let us drop the name of prison; let us call it a place of retirement. Though the body is shut in, though the flesh is confined, all things are open to the spirit.
Tertullian (To The Martyrs)
“Our greatest cross is the fear of crosses. . . We have not the courage to carry our cross and we are very much mistaken, for, whatever we do, the cross holds us tight – we cannot escape from it. What, then, have we to lose? Why not love our crosses and make use of them to take us to heaven?”
St Jean Vianney
“Start being brave about everything! Drive out darkness and spread light. Do not look at your weaknesses. Realise instead, that in Christ Crucified, you can do all things.”
Quote/s of the Day – 18 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Readings: John 15:13, Ps 40:2, 1 John 3:13-18, John 15:12-16
Greater love than this no one has, that one lay down his life for his friends.
John 15:13
“Suffering is the ancient law of love; there is no quest without pain; there is no lover who is not also a Martyr.”
Bl Henry Suso (1295-1366)
Wherefore, O blessed, you may regard yourselves as having been translated from a prison to, we may say, a place of safety. It is full of darkness, but you yourselves are light; it has bonds, but God has made you free. Unpleasant exhalations are there, but you are an odour of sweetness. The judge is daily looked for, but you shall judge the judges themselves. Sadness may be there for him who sighs for the world’s enjoyments. The Christian outside the prison has renounced the world, but in the prison he has renounced a prison too. It is of no consequence where you are in the world — you who are not of it. And if you have lost some of life’s sweets, it is the way of business to suffer present loss, that after gains may be the larger.
Tertullian (To the Martyrs)
Moreover, also, the blessed Saturus related this his vision, which he himself committed to writing:— We had suffered, says he, and we had gone forth from the flesh, and we were beginning to be borne by four angels into the east; and their hands touched us not. And we floated not supine, looking upwards, but as if ascending a gentle slope. And being set free, we at length saw the first boundless light; and I said, ‘Perpetua’ (for she was at my side), ‘this is what the Lord promised to us; we have received the promise.’ And while we are borne by those same four angels, there appears to us a vast space which was like a pleasure-garden, having rose-trees and every kind of flower. And the height of the trees was after the measure of a cypress, and their leaves were falling incessantly. Moreover, there in the pleasure-garden four other angels appeared, brighter than the previous ones, who, when they saw us, gave us honour, and said to the rest of the angels, ‘Here they are! Here they are!’ with admiration. And those four angels who bore us, being greatly afraid, put us down; and we passed over on foot the space of a furlong in a broad path. There we found Jocundus and Saturninus and Artaxius, who having suffered the same persecution were burnt alive; and Quintus, who also himself a martyr had departed in the prison. And we asked of them where the rest were. And the angels said to us, ‘Come first, enter and greet your Lord.’
Tertullian (The Passion of the Holy Martyrs Perpetua and Felicity)
Wherefore, continuing to enjoy fair winds, we were reluctantly hurried on in one day and a night, mourning [as we did] over the coming departure from us of this righteous man. But to him this happened just as he wished, since he was in haste as soon as possible to leave this world, that he might attain to the Lord whom he loved.
The Martyrdom of Ignatius
“Now Paul rejoices with Stephen, with Stephen he enjoys the brightness of Christ; he exults with Stephen, he reigns with Stephen. There, where Stephen arose, the first, stoned under Paul’s very eyes, there too, Paul has risen with the help of Stephen’s prayers!”
St Fulgentius of Ruspe (c 462 – 533) Bishop in North Africa
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven but only the one who does the will of my Father in Heaven.”
Matthew 7:21
“We recognise a tree by its fruit and we ought to be able to recognise a Christian by his action. The fruit of faith should be evident in our lives, for being a Christian is more than making sound professions of faith. It should reveal itself in practical and visible ways. Indeed, it is better to keep quiet about our beliefs and live them out, than to talk eloquently about what we believe but fail to live by it!”
St Ignatius of Antioch (c 35-c 108) Martyr Apostolic Father of the Church
“God is Good but He is also Just… So do not underestimate God – His love for men should not become a pretext, for negligence on our part.”
St Basil the Great (329-379) Father and Doctor of the Church
“If anyone who calls upon the Name of the Lord, resists the Lord’s Commands by living perversely, it is evident, that the good, which the tongue has spoken, has NOT emanated from the good treasure in his heart. It was not the root of a fig tree but that of a thorn bush, which produced the fruit of such a confession — a conscience, which is, bristling with vices and not one filled, with the sweetness of the love of the Lord!”
St Bede the Venerable (673-735) Father and Doctor of the Church
Quote/s of the Day – 16 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Readings: Ps 46:2, Ps 46:3, Rom 6:19-23, Matt 7:15-21
“I say to you, something greater than the temple is here …”
Matthew 12:6
“The Word of God, as consubstantial with the Father, has all things in common with Him and, therefore, has necessarily supreme and absolute dominion, over all things created.”
St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444) Father & Doctor of the Church
“The kingdom of God, in the words of our Lord and Saviour, does not come for all to see; nor shall they say: Behold, here it is, or behold, there it is; but the kingdom of God is within us, for the word of God is very near, in our mouth and in our heart. Thus it is clear that he who prays for the coming of God’s kingdom, prays rightly to have it within himself, that there it might grow and bear fruit and become perfect.For God reigns in each of his holy ones.
Origen (c185-253) Father of the Church
“Follow Me. I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. Without the Way, there is no going. Without the Truth, there is no knowing. Without the Life, there is no living. I am the Way, which you must follow, the Truth, which you must believe, the Life, for which you must hope. I am the inviolable Way, the infallible Truth, the unending Life. I am the Way that is straight, the supreme Truth, the Life that is true, the blessed, the uncreated Life. If you abide in My Way, you shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free and you shall attain life everlasting.”
Quote/s of the Day – 15 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” and the Memorial of St Bonaventure OFM (1221-1274) Seraphic Doctor of the Church
“As “pride is the beginning of all sin,” (Eccl. 10:15) so humility is the foundation of all virtue. Learn to be really humble and not, as the hypocrite, humble merely in appearance.”
“Run with eager desire to this Source of Life and Light, all you who are vowed to God’s service.”
St Bonaventure’s Sermon of 4 October 1255
“When we pray, the voice of the heart must be heard , more than that proceeding from the mouth.”
“If you do not know your own dignity and condition, you cannot value anything at its proper worth.”
Have mercy on me, O Lady, for thou art called the Mother of Mercy. And according to thy mercy, cleanse me from all my iniquities. Pour forth thy grace upon me and withdraw not from me thine accustomed clemency. For I will confess my sins to thee and I will accuse myself of all my crimes before thee. Reconcile me to the Fruit of thy womb: and make peace for me with Him, Who has created me. Amen.”
The Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary by St Bonaventure
“Mary seeks for those who approach her devoutly and with reverence, for such she loves, nourishes, and adopts as her children. ”
“Men do not fear a powerful hostile army, as the powers of hell, fear the name and protection of Mary.”
Dearly beloved: I charge thee, before God and Jesus Christ, who shall judge the living and the dead, by his coming, and his kingdom: Preach the word: be instant in season, out of season: reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience and doctrine.
2 Tim 4:1-8
For there shall be a time, when they will not endure sound doctrine; but, according to their own desires, they will heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears: And will indeed turn away their hearing from the truth, but will be turned unto fables.
2 Tim 4:1-8
But be thou vigilant, labour in all things, do the work of an evangelist, fulfil thy ministry.
2 Tim 4:1-8
For I am even now ready to be sacrificed: and the time of my dissolution is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. As to the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord the just judge will render to me in that day: and not only to me, but to them also that love His coming.
Quote/s of the Day – 13 July – “Month of the Precious Blood” – Readings: Ps 46:2, Ps 46:3, Rom 6:19-23, Ps 33:12, 6, Ps 46:2, Matt 7:15-21
It is truly meet and just, and profitable unto salvation, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks to Thee, O Holy Lord, Father Almighty, eternal God, through Christ, our Lord.
(Preface of the Mass)
In this wise have the martyrs shown their power, leaping with joy in the presence of death, laughing at the sword, making sport of the wrath of princes, grasping at death as the producer of deathlessness, making victory their own by their fall, through the body taking their leap to heaven, suffering their members to be scattered abroad in order that they might hold their souls, and, bursting the bars of life, that they might open the. gates of heaven. And if any one believes not that death is abolished, that Hades is trodden under foot, that the chains thereof are broken, that the tyrant is bound, let him look on the martyrs disporting themselves in the presence of death, and taking up the jubilant strain of the victory of Christ. O the marvel! Since the hour when Christ despoiled Hades, men have danced in triumph over death.
O death, where is your sting! O grave, where is your victory? Hades and the devil have been despoiled, and stripped of their ancient armour, and cast out of their peculiar power. And even as Goliath had his head cut off with his own sword, so also is the devil, who has been the father of death, put to rout through death; and he finds that the selfsame thing which he was wont to use as the ready weapon of his deceit, has become the mighty instrument of his own destruction. Yea, if we may so speak, casting his hook at the Godhead, and seizing the wonted enjoyment of the baited pleasure, he is himself manifestly caught while he deems himself the captor, and discovers that in place of the man he has touched the God. By reason thereof do the martyrs leap upon the head of the dragon, and despise every species of torment.
For since the second Adam has brought up the first Adam out of the deeps of Hades, as Jonah was delivered out of the whale, and has set forth him who was deceived as a citizen of heaven to the shame of the deceiver, the gates of Hades have been shut, and the gates of heaven have been opened, so as to offer an unimpeded entrance to those who rise there in faith.
In olden time Jacob beheld a ladder erected reaching to heaven, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon it. But now, having been made man for man’s sake, He who is the Friend of man has crushed with the foot of His divinity him who is the enemy of man, and has borne up the man with the hand of His Christhood, and has made the trackless ether to be trodden by the feet of man. Then the angels were ascending and descending; but now the Angel of the great counsel neither ascends nor descends: for whence or where shall He change His position, who is present everywhere, and fills all things, and holds in His hand the ends of the world?
St. Gregory Thaumaturgus (On All The Saints)
“Since all the good we have, or all the good we do, is of God and from God, we are bound, in justice, to render Him thanks for every good action done, or every victory won in the battle against self. And, what is more, we are obliged to render thanksgiving for all blessings, general or particular, which we have received from His bounteous Hand.
To do this in a becoming manner, let us consider the end because of which, He has heaped upon us the abundance of His blessings; for from such considerations, we come to learn how God would be thanked. And, as His principal design, in all His beneficence, is primarily His own honour and the dedication of souls to His Divine service, let everyone reflect within his hearts: “What power, wisdom and goodness has God displayed in bestowing this grace and blessing upon me!”
Then considering the incapacity of finite man, to merit unaided, an Infinite favour – or even man’s utter ingratitude which makes him unworthy of such a blessing – we should say, in deep humility: “Is it possible, O Lord that Thou shouldst love sinful man, the most abject of creatures? How boundless is a love which grants a multitude of blessings, to him, who deserves it so little!? May Thy Holy Name be blessed now and forever!”
And finally, as such a multitude of blessings requires no more acknowledgment from man, than that he love his gracious Benefactor, let him thank and love God from the bottom of his heart, resolving to obey completely, the dictates of God’s Holy Will.
Quote/s of the Day – 11 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Readings: Ps 44:2, Ecclus 24:14-16, Luke 11:27-28
“Blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it.”
Luke 11:27-28
Hail, holy Mother, who in childbirth brought forth the King Who rules heaven and earth world without end.
Sedulius
“Blessed is the womb that bore you ’”
Luke 11:27
“Do not delude yourselves, my brothers, if you hasten to hear the Word without meaning to put into practice that which you hear … consider carefully – if it is good to hear the Word, it is even better to put it into practice. If you do not listen to it, if you do not do what you have heard, then you are not building anything. If you listen to it and do not put it into practice, then you are building a ruin! “
St Augustine (354-430)
“Everyone should be quick to hear, slow to speak” (Jas 1;19). Yes, brethren, I tell you frankly… I, who frequently address you at your own request, it is undiluted joy for me, when I take my place in the audience; my happiness is unalloyed, when I listen, rather than speak. Then, it is that I savour the Word in all confidence; my satisfaction is unthreatened by vainglory. When you sit on the solid rock of Truth, how can you fear the precipice of pride? “I will give ear,” says the psalmist, “and you will fill me with joy and gladness” (cf Ps 50:10). So, I am never more delighted, than when I am listening – our position as hearers, is that which keeps us in an attitude of humility.
Quote/s of the Day – 8 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Readings: Ps 118:75; 118:120, Ps 118:1, Prov 31:10-31, Ps 44:3; 44:5, Ps 44.5, Matt 13:44-52.
‘So will it be at the end of the world. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from among the just, and will cast them into the furnace of fire, where there will be the weeping, and the gnashing of teeth. Have you understood all these things?‘
– Matt 13:44-52
“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field; he who finds it, hides it and in his joy, goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”
Matthew 13:44
“For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.”
Luke 12:34
“We have had Your treasure hidden within us, ever since we received baptismal grace, it grows ever richer at Your sacramental table.”
St Ephrem (306-373) Father and Doctor of the Church
“Let your door stand open to receive Him, unlock your soul to Him, offer Him a welcome in your mind and then you will see the riches of simplicity, the treasures of peace, the joy of grace. Throw wide the gate of your heart, stand before the Sun of the everlasting Light.”
St Ambrose (c 340-397) Father and Doctor of the Church
“ He who finds Jesus, finds a rare treasure, indeed, a good above every good, whereas he who loses Him, loses more than the whole world. The man who lives without Jesus, is the poorest of the poor, whereas no-one is so rich, as the man who lives in His grace. … Let all things be loved, for the sake of Jesus but Jesus, for His own sake.”
Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)
“Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy.”
St John Leonardi (1541-1609)
“You leave the land just as it is when you depart, you do not carry anything away. Our first aim is to go to God, we are not on earth for anything but this!”
Quote/s of the Day – 7 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Readings: Ps 131:9-10, Ps 131:1, Ps 131:16-17, Ps 109:4, Heb 7:23-27, Luke 10:1-9, Ps 67:36, Matt 10:27
“And He said to them, The harvest indeed is great, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into His harvest.”
Luke 10:1-9
“Go. Behold, I send you forth as lambs in the midst of wolves.”
Luke 10:1-9
“A person who wishes to become the Lord’s disciple must repudiate a human obligation, however honourable it may appear, if it slows us, ever so slightly, in giving the wholehearted obedience we owe to God.”
St Basil the Great (329-379) Father and Doctor of the Church
“He wants you to become a living force for all mankind, lights shining in the world. You are to be radiant lights as you stand beside Christ, the Great Light, bathed in the glory of Him who is the Light of Heaven.”
St Gregory Nazianzen (330-390) Father & Doctor of the Church
“Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.”
St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor of the Church
“What a tragedy, how many souls are being shut out of heaven and falling into hell, thanks to you!”
One Minute Reflection – 6 July – “Month of the Precious Blood” – The Octave Day of Sts Peter and Paul –
“O man of little faith, why did you doubt?” – Matthew 14:31
REFLECTION – “Once again the disciples are a plaything of the waves and a storm, similar to the first one (Mt 8:4) hurls itself against them. The first time, however, they had Jesus with them, whereas this time they are alone and left to themselves. … I think this was because our Saviour wanted to stir their sleeping hearts and, by throwing them into a panic, He inspired in them a strong desire for His presence and kept the remembrance of Him constantly in their minds. Hence, He did not come to their help at once but “during the fourth watch of the night He came towards them, walking on the sea …”
Peter, ever volatile, always getting in before the other disciples, said: “Lord, if it is Thee, command me to come to Thee on the water” … He didn’t say, “Command me to walk on the water” but “come to thee,” for, there was none who loved Jesus as much as he. He did the same thing after the Resurrection – unable to bear moving as slowly as the others in the boat, he jumped into the water to get there before them and satisfy his love for Christ. …Getting out of the boat, then, Peter went towards Jesus, more delighted to be going towards Him, than to be walking on the water. But after confronting the greatest danger, that of the sea, he was to give in to a lesser, that of the wind. Such is human nature! Often, having overcome serious dangers we are conquered by lesser ones … Peter had not yet been set free from all his fear … in spite of Christ’s presence beside him. For it is of no use to be beside Christ if one is not close to Him by faith. This is what emphasises the distance separating Master from the disciple …
“O man of little faith, why did you doubt?” So if Peter’s faith had not faltered, he would have resisted the wind without difficulty. And the proof of this, is that Jesus grasped Peter ,while leaving the wind to continue blowing … Just as the mother bird supports the fledgling which has prematurely left the nest, with her wings, as it is about to fall and draws it back into the nest, so does Christ, with regard to Peter.” … St John Chrysostom (345-407) Bishop of Constantinople, Father and Doctor of the Church – (Homilies on Saint Matthew’s Gospel no 50, 1-2).
PRAYER – O God, Who made this day holy by the Martyrdom of Your Apostles Peter and Paul, grant Thy Church to follow in all things, the teaching of those, from whom she first received the faith. 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 (Collect).
One Minute Reflection – 5 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Readings: Genesis 28: 10-22a, Psalms 91: 1-2, 3-4, 14-15ab, Matthew 9: 18-26 and the Memorial of St Anthony Mary Zaccaria CRSP (1502-1539)
“The girl is not dead but sleeping” – Matthew 9:24
REFLECTION – “Let us consider, dear friends, how the Master is continually proving to us, that there is to be a resurrection, of which He made the Lord Jesus Christ the first fruits, when He raised Him from the dead.
Let us observe, dear friends, the resurrection that is regularly taking place. Day and night show us a resurrection – night falls asleep, day arises; day departs, night comes on. Let us take the crops – how and in what way does the sowing take place? The sower goes out and sows each seed in the ground. They fall into the ground dry and bare, and decay; – then from their decay, the greatness of the Master’s providence raises them up, and from a single grain, many spring up and bear fruit…
Do we, then, regard it as a great and marvellous thing, for the Creator of all things, to bring about the resurrection of those who have served Him with holiness in the assurance of a good faith?… With this hope, then, let our souls be bound to Him, that is faithful, to His promises and upright in His judgements. He, Who has commanded us not to lie will much more not lie Himself. For nothing is impossible to God except lying (Jn32:17; Lk 1:37; 6,18).
So let faith in Him be rekindled in us and let us understand, that all things are possible to Him. With His majestic Word He constituted all things and with a Word, He can overturn them…when He pleases and as He pleases, He will do everything, and none of the things He has decreed will pass away. All things are in His sight and nothing has escaped His Providence.” – St Pope Clement I (c 35-c 99)Pope from about 90 to 99 – Letter to the Corinthians, §24-28 ; SC 167
PRAYER – Almighty Lord and God, protect and strengthen us by Your power throughout this day, even as You have enabled us to begin it. By Your grace, may the our faith be our guide and let our every thought, word and deed aim at doing Your will and what is pleasing in Your sight. Grant that by the prayers of Saint Anthony Zaccaria, we may ever turn our eyes and hearts to our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him, Your divine Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, God now and forever, amen.
Quote/s of the Day – 5 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – the Memorial of St Anthony Mary Zaccaria CRSP (1502-1539)
“In His mercy, God has chosen us, unworthy as we are, out of the world, to serve Him and thus, to advance in goodness and to bear the greatest possible fruit of love in patience.”
“If you want to pray well, first detach yourself from things of the world, purify yourself from your passions, which deprive your soul of your trust in God, then prepare yourself for prayer through meditation.”
“ True spiritual life consists in this: that man keep his eyes on God all the time, long for nothing but for God, keep nothing in mind but God, begin every single action,in God’s name and direct it to Him.”
Quote/s of the Day – 3 July – Feast of St Thomas Apostle – Readings: Ephesians 2: 19-22, Psalms 117: 1bc, 2, John 20: 24-29
Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”
John 20:28-29
“For by your doubting, I am taught to believe, by your forked-tongue, that revealed the Wound on the Divine Body that was pierced, I harvest the fruit for myself, without pain!”
St John Chrysostom (347-407) Father and Doctor
“I believe though I do not comprehend and I hold by faith, what I cannot grasp with the mind.”
St Bernard (1090-1153) Mellifluous Doctor
“To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”
“Believing is an act of the intellect assenting to the divine truth, by command of the will, moved by God through grace.”
St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor Angelicus/Doctor Communis
Quote/s of the Day – 1 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Readings: Genesis 22: 1b-19 Psalms 115: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9,: Matthew 9: 1-8
And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the man sick of the palsy: “Be of good heart, son, thy sins are forgiven thee.”
Matthew 9:2
“This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he hath sent.”
John 6:29
“Let us become like Christ, since Christ became like us. He assumed the worse, that He might give us the better; He became poor, that we through His poverty, might be rich.”
St Gregory of Nazianzen (330-390) Father and Doctor of the Church
“Have faith and the One you cannot see, is with you.”
St Augustine (354-430) Father and Doctor of the Church
“Be joyful and keep your faith and your creed.”
St David of Wales (c 542-c 601) Bishop
“Rest is in Him alone. Man knows no peace in the world but he has no disturbance when he is with God.”
St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) Mellifluous Doctor
1 June – Devotion for June – THE MONTH OF THE MOST SACRED HEART of JESUS
In 1899, Pope Leo XIII Consecrated the world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Since then, his successors have exhorted the faithful to turn to the Sacred Heart and make Acts of personal Consecration. They have also begged the faithful to offer prayers and penances to the Sacred Heart in reparation for the many sins of the world.
In his Encyclical on the Sacred Heart entitled Haurietis Aquas (“You Will Draw Waters”) Pope Pius XII notes that the genesis of the devotion to the Sacred Heart lies in the Covenant of Love from the Old Testament. He writes that “in the New Testament, the love which breathes from the Gospel, from the letters of the Apostles and the pages of the Apocalypse, all portray the Love of the Heart of Jesus.” He is linking this devotion to the Old Testament which was brought to life in Christ in the New Testament.
In the early 17th Century, Devotion to the Sacred Heart was given considerable attention in the preaching and writings of St John Eudes, known as “The Apostle of the Two Holy Hearts.”
St Francis (1567-1622) in his “Treatise on the Love of God,” lays out the foundation of the Devotion to the Sacred Heart. St Francis would greatly influence St Jane Frances de Chantal who was the Foundress of the Sisters of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the very Order which St Margaret Mary Alacoque VHM. (1647-1690), the Visionary of the Sacred Heart, would later join.
Our Lord appeared to St Margaret Mary, perhaps close to forty times. The first apparition occurred in the Visitation Chapel at Paray-le-Monial on 27 December 1673. The last apparition occurred less than two years later in June 1675. She saw His heart engulfed in flames and surrounded by thorns and heard His gentle voice:
“Behold this Heart which has so loved men that It spares nothing…to prove to them It’s love. And, in return, I receive from the greater part of men, nothing but ingratitude, by the contempt, irreverence, sacrileges and coldness with which they treat Me in this Sacrament of Love.
I thirst, I burn with a consuming desire for men’s love and I find none to quench this thirst, according to My wish, by making any return of love.”
From her cloister, St Margaret Mary promoted the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, First Friday Devotion, The Twelve Promises and the Holy Hour of Reparation.
The Sacred Heart Enthronement desires to follow in the footsteps of Saints who came before and hold true to the basic request of Jesus to St.Margaret Mary, “I will bless the home in which the Image of My Sacred Heart shall be exposed and honoured.”
Sweet Heart of my JESUS, Make me love Thee ever more and more! –300 Days Indulgence Once a day, Plenary Once a month – Blessed Pope Pius IX – 26 November 1876
Thought for the Day – 12 May – The Imitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary By Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)
Extracts from The Imitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary By Thomas à Kempis CRSA (1380-1471) Imprimatur 17 February 1947
SERMON The Virtues a Good Servant of Mary Ought to Practice and the Offices He Ought to Fulfil
I. The Latins have two words to designate the good actions to be accomplished in life. The word “virtus” in order to designate an action made with effort and goodwill and, the word “officium” in order to characterise an action accomplished as a duty but, without attachment of the heart. That which is required here of a good servant of Mary, are virtues, which is to say, meritorious acts, élan of the heart and not only works which, domestics themselves can fulfil. There are firstly, the interior virtues – humility, patience and purity.
II. Afterwards there are the exterior virtues or virtues of action – effort in work, elevation of the mind, union in mental prayer, zeal in vocal prayer.
III. These united virtues ought to animate all practices of devotion, if we wish these practices become spiritual acts of meritorious virtue and not only material offices of remunerated work. Thus Mary acted; thus we ourselves should act.
IV. The servant, therefore, asks of Mary, who is a mother and a model, to aid him in this work and to console him amid the difficulties of the work.
MEDITATION The Active Life
Life is like fire – it only preserves itself, while communicating itself. The ancients used to represent it by a flame and that is, indeed, the truth. To live it is necessary to act. The active life supposes –will and effort. Mary has known and practiced this life, as all the Saints have practiced it. Life which passes selfishly by, disillusions and engenders boredom; “taedium vitae.” Unfortunate is the soul who permits himself to live, without rising! He will have lived most, who will have acted most, through his heart, through his soul and through his body, through love, through the mind and through works. Is there a more beautiful model than Mary, in the Temple, at Nazareth, on Calvary, with St. John? Such a one has lived long, who has lived little, said a wise man. Let us live like Mary and with Mary.
Practice: Do not allow a single day to pass without having made an effort in at least one small thing.
Thought: A lukewarm life is a dull one; live as Mary did. “Look at Mary, contemplate and marvel! Aspice Mariam, contemplare et mirare!”
Fr and Dr Célestin Albin de Cigala (1865-1928) Faculty of Paris (1947) Doctor of Theology and Philosophy
AnaStpaul 
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