Quote/s of the Day – 15 October – Monday of the Twenty Eighth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 11:29–32
“Our Saviour’s words
are not of a nature
to be heard once
and no more
but that to understand them,
we must feed upon them
and live in them,
as if by, little and little,
growing into their meaning.”
“Yesterday is gone.
Tomorrow has not yet come.
We have only today.
Let us begin.”
One Minute Reflection – 15 October – Monday of the Twenty Eighth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 11:29–32 and the Memorial of Blessed Roman Lysko (1914–1949) Priest and Martyr
“For they repented at the preaching of Jonah and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.” … Luke 11:32
REFLECTION – “Let us beware of losing all hope but let us also avoid giving in too easily to carelessness… Despair hinders those who have fallen, from getting up again and carelessness causes those who are standing, to fall… If presumption casts us down from the heights of heaven, despair casts us into the infinite depths of evil, whereas a little hope is enough to hold us back…
This is how Nineveh was saved. However, the divine judgement pronounced against the Ninevites was of a nature to throw them into confusion since it did not say: “If you repent you will be saved” but simply: “Three more days and Nineveh will be destroyed” (Jon 3:4). Nevertheless, neither the Lord’s threat, nor the prophet’s preaching, nor even the severity of the judgement… caused their confidence to fail. God wants us to draw a lesson, from this unconditional judgement that taught by this example, that we may resist despair as much as passivity… Besides, divine good will does not only reveal itself in the forgiveness granted to the repentant Ninevites.. the respite granted them, attests likewise, to His unutterable goodness. Do you imagine that three days would have been enough to wipe out so much wickedness? God’s good will is breaking out from behind these words and, besides, isn’t it the principal worker of the whole city’s salvation?
Let this example keep us from despairing. For the devil thinks of this form of weakness as his most successful weapon and, even when we sin, we could not give him greater pleasure than when we lose hope.” … St John Chrysostom (345-407) Father & Doctor
PRAYER – Eternal, almighty God and Father, teach us true sorrow and repentance. Grant us the grace of trust and hope in Your unfailing love, that we may resist despair as we face the sin of the world and the wiles of the evil one. As we walk always in the Light of Christ, Your Son, following His way, we may never fall into temptation. May the intercession of Your saints and martyrs, be always an assistance to us all. Mary, our Mother of merciful love and Blessed Roman Lysko, pray for us. Through Christ our Lord and the Holy Spirit, God for always and forever, amen.
Sunday Reflection – 13 October – Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C and today, John Henry Newman will be Canonised
“Consider that the birth of Jesus Christ, caused universal joy in the whole world. Jesus was the Redeemer who had been desired and awaited for so many years. He was called ‘the desire of the nations’ and ‘the desire of the eternal hills.’ Today, we behold Him, born in a little cave! Let us consider, that this day, the angel also announces to us the same great joy announced to the shepherds. “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, for a saviour has been born.”
What great rejoicing there is in a country when the firstborn son of a king is born. But surely, there should be even greater rejoicing when we see the Son of God born! We were lost and He came to save us. He is the shepherd who has come to save His sheep from death. He is the lamb of God, who has come to sacrifice Himself, to become our deliverer, our life, or light and even our food in the Most Holy Sacrament.
Saint Maximus says that for this reason, among many others, Jesus chose to be laid in the manger, where the animals are fed, to make us understand that He has become human and also our food. “In the manger, where the food of animals is placed, He allowed Himself to be laid, demonstrating that His own body would be the eternal food of humankind.”
Besides this, He is born every day in the Sacrament of the Altar, the Altar is the crib and we go to the Altar to be fed and nourished. Some might desire to hold the Infant Jesus in their arms as the prophet Simeon did but faith teaches us, that when we receive Holy Communion, we too, hold the same Jesus, who was in the manger in Bethlehem, not in our arms alone but in our hearts.
My beloved Jesus, if I do not love You, who are my Lord and God, whom shall I love?”
One Minute Reflection – 13 October – Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 17:11–19 and the Memorial of Blessed Alexandrina of Balazar
And he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. …Luke 17:16
REFLECTION – “O Heart of Jesus all love, I offer You these humble prayers for myself and for all those, who unite themselves with me, in spirit to adore You.
O holiest Heart of Jesus most lovely, I intend to renew and to offer to You, these acts of adoration and these prayers, for myself, a wretched sinner and for all those, who are associated with me in Your adoration, through all moments which I breath, even to the end of my life. I recommend to You, O my Jesus, Holy Church, Your dear spouse and our true Mother, all just souls and all poor sinners, the afflicted, the dying and all mankind. Let not Your Blood be shed for them in vain. Finally, deign to apply it in relief of the souls in Purgatory and of these in particular….” … St John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
PRAYER – Lord God, open our hearts to Your Grace, that we may be filled with Your light and overflow with gratitude for Your merciful love. May we love and adore and worship You in return. Although we are sinners, our hearts long to thank You in total trust and humble thankfulness. Grant that by the prayers of Blessed Alexandrina of Balazar, we may grow in holiness. Through Your only Son, our Saviour and Redeemer, with the Holy Spirit, God, forever, amen.
Journeying with Newman
The Thanksgiving Novena for, with and to
the beloved and blessed John Henry Newman
Day Nine – 12 October
Intention:
That we are helped to cultivate the gift of charity.
“The love of our private friends
is the only preparatory exercise
for the love of all men.”
From his writings
Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
Prayer:
Please pray one decade of the Rosary (any you choose) for this Intention and add the following Prayer:
O God our heavenly Father,
we offer You heartfelt thanks
for the life and holiness of John Henry Newman.
In him You give us,
an inspiring example of priest and teacher,
heroic and humble, in his labour
for the salvation of souls
and the pursuit of holiness.
Through his intercession,
we ask You to lead us,
by the kindly light of the Holy Spirit
and so grant us peace and joy,
in the one fold of the Redeemer.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen
Thought for the Day – 12 October – The Memorial of Blessed Jan Beyzym SJ (1850–1912), “Apostle of the Lepers of Madasgascar”
Our Holy Mother was his strength and comfort. All his sufferings were dedicated to Her and to the Polish Province of Father’s order. Our Lady was his lifelong and reliable help in all his deeds and sufferings. St Joseph, alongside with Mary, was a model of patience for Father Beyzym. When he had been waiting for long years for the decision with regard to his Sakhalin mission, Father saw the necessity to accept God’s will and follow St Joseph, who had been waiting in Egypt for the Angel’s word telling him to return to the land of Israel.
Father Beyzym’s life, especially the years he devoted to the work for the lepers (Father never complained about that and about them) were full of disappointments, troubles, obstacles and obstruction. If there were not for his gift of patience, Father would not carry such a burden.
Only the spirit of faith, the vision of faith in the continual praying for the help of God and His Holy Mother, only the power of the Eucharist and the strength of the compassion for the miserable, gave Father the power to endure to the end. During his last illness he was admired for his patience and courageousness. “By your patience possess your souls” (Luke 21,19), – was one of the mottoes of Father Beyzym’s life. And he lived up to it.
Humbly and gratefully Father attributed everything to the Blessed Mother, because, as he used to say, he was a complete failure. She ruled and directed and he was only a tool in Her hands. There was no heroism in his work for the lepers. “Our Holy Mother sent me to take care of them. So, here I am and there is that”.
Humble, small, poor, understanding his badness, always trustful, free of pride and despair, immersed in the mercy of God and Our Holy Mother’s care, he prayed, worked and coped with thousands of difficulties and problems. This was Father Beyzym – small in his unconscious greatness. Great was his love – humble and serving to the very end.
Why do you Hurry?
By Father Stanislaw Ziemianski SJ
Why do you hurry Father Beyzym
To the hostile and far away land
Why do you guide your steps of a pilgrim,
Where need and leprosy are hand in hand?
Refrain:
I hurry to save my brothers in Christ,
Unblessed and miserable outcasts.
I go to save my brothers in Christ,
Lepers, desolate hearts!
Why do you sail to Madagascar?
The island is unexplored and wild.
There lepers cramped in their huts
Live in the straits of body and mind.
Refrain:
I hurry to save my brothers in Christ…
Aren’t you afraid you contract the illness,
And you would suffer your chicklings fate?
Deny yourself for the lepers what made you,
Whose voice you heard outcrying for help?
Refrain:
I hurry to save my brothers in Christ…
Prayer for the Canonisation of Blessed Jan Beyzym
The Apostle of the Lepers of Madasgar
Father of mercy and God of all comfort!
Through the agency of Your Servant Jan Beyzym
You bestowed mercy and consolation
On the most miserable of the miserable,
On the forlorn and outcast,
On the separated off the human society
With the wall of fear and scorn.
By Your mercy in him
And his intercession
Make us the instrument of Your Providence,
Kindness and consolation for all,
Who need it.
And if it is not against Your will,
Deign to include him among Your Saints,
And graciously grant us,
What we sincerely ask You for
With the desire for Your glory
And our benefit.
Through Christ, Our Lord.
Amen
Quote of the Day – 12 October – The Memorial of Blessed Jan Beyzym SJ (1850–1912), “Apostle of the Lepers of Madasgascar”
“What you do for the least of my creatures,
that you do unto me.
We must be like the merchants of this earth –
we must always aim at a greater gain.'”
One Minute Reflection – 12 October – Saturday of the Twenty Seventh week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 11:27–28 and the Memorial of Blessed Jan Beyzym SJ (1850–1912), “Apostle of the Lepers of Madasgascar”
But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” … Luke 11:28
REFLECTION – “Jesus was speaking to the crowd. Some of them did not understand and were debating and a woman said: “Blessed is she who has been your mother and bore you!” A woman who shouts that out, it’s marvellous, things like that! Ordinary people in the authentic, how profound! This is the moment when Jesus will say: “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!” He wants to move away from that family environment – today one would speak of one’s “circle”. In mountainous districts or the countryside, family bonds are very close, they form a kind of little tribe. Jesus distances himself from that.
Someone said to Him: “Your mother and your brothers are waiting outside — Who is my mother? Who are my brothers? Those who do the will of God” (cf. Lk 8:20-21) — He establishes a society that is transnatural, not founded on shared sensibilities, social conditions of class and origin. No, it’s another thing altogether. To this woman He will say: “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!” But the woman had listened to the word of God since she had said to Him: “Blessed is she who has been your mother!” (Lk 8:19-21; 11:27-28). It is not blame that Jesus directs at her, on the contrary, it is a confirmation, saying: ‘Blessed are you for having understood that there is something greater than familial relationships, something which adds to familial relationships what they are capable of bearing of light when they are received but which are of another order.’
Well then! See what has been proclaimed to us, what the saints have understood and which they have lived.” ... Cardinal Charles Journet (1891-1975) Theologian – Conferences given at Geneva between 1972 and 1974 on St. John’s gospel.
PRAYER – “O my God, whatever is nearer to me than You, things of this earth and things more naturally pleasing to me, will be sure to interrupt the sight of You, unless Your grace interfere. Keep You my eyes, my ears, my heart, from any such miserable tyranny. Keep my whole being fixed on You. Let me never lose sight of You and while I gaze on You, let my love of You grow more and more every day.” … Bl John Henry Newman (1801-1890) May we run the race in obedience and love of the Will of our God, as Blessed Jan Beyzym did, always seeking Your Face in those who are the least and whose prayers we beg. Through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.
Journeying with Newman
The Thanksgiving Novena for, with and to
the beloved and blessed John Henry Newman
Day Eight – 11 October
Servant of the Church
Intention:
That we are given the Grace
to see the Church as more than a
human institution but as the Body of Christ.
“The Church of God, cannot change,
what she was that she is.
What our forefathers were, such are we,
we look like other men
but we have that in us,
which none others have –
the latent element of an indomitable fortitude.
This may not be the age of Saints
but all times are the age of Martyrs!”
From his writings
Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
Prayer:
Please pray one decade of the Rosary (any you choose) for this Intention and add the following Prayer:
O God our heavenly Father,
we offer You heartfelt thanks
for the life and holiness of John Henry Newman.
In him You give us,
an inspiring example of priest and teacher,
heroic and humble, in his labour
for the salvation of souls
and the pursuit of holiness.
Through his intercession,
we ask You to lead us,
by the kindly light of the Holy Spirit
and so grant us peace and joy,
in the one fold of the Redeemer.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen
Quote/s of the Day – 11 October – The Memorial of St Maria Soledad Torres Acosta (1826-1887) and St Pope John XXIII (1881-1963)
“May the Lord grant us
His holy peace and patience,
so that with these two shields,
we may carry the holy cross
that Our Lord in His mercy
has destined for us.”
“The sick are the image
of the suffering Christ
and it is Him that we serve.”
Quotes of St John XXIII here:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/10/11/quote-s-of-the-day-11-october-the-memorial-of-st-pope-john-xxiii-1881-1963/
One Minute Reflection – 11 October – Friday of the Twenty Seventh week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel Luke 11:15–26 and the Memorial of St Pope John XXIII (1881-1963)
But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you…Luke 11:20
REFLECTION – ” “The finger: “It is by the finger of God that [Jesus] casts out demons.” If God’s law was written on tablets of stone “by the finger of God” (Ex 31,18), then the “letter from Christ” entrusted to the care of the apostles, is written “with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts” (2Cor 3,3). The hymn “Veni Creator Spiritus” invokes the Holy Spirit as the “finger of the Father’s right hand.”…CCC 700
“What things ought I render to Almighty God that He has made me what I am? It is a matter of grace … I am what I am, not from any excellence or merit of my own but by the grace of God who has chosen me to believe. Has He not visited me with over-abundant grace? And was it not necessary for my hardened heart to receive more than other people? …
Lord You have poured on me Your grace. You have been with me in my perplexities. You have forgiven me my sins. You have satisfied my reason. You have made faith easy. You have given me Your saints, You show before me, day after day, Your own Passion – why should I leave You? What have You ever done to me but good?” … Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
PRAYER – Almighty Father, let Your light so penetrate our minds, that we may walk always in that light and follow Your Son, the Way, the Truth and the Life. Fill us with understanding and may the Holy Spirit guide us in love. Allow the intercession of St Pope John XXIII who followed Your light so faithfully be of help to us all. We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.
Journeying with Newman
The Thanksgiving Novena for, with and to
the beloved and blessed John Henry Newman
Day Seven – 10 October
Intention:
That we may be inspired to strive for a deeper understanding of the teachings of our Faith.
“I want a laity, not arrogant,
not rash in speech,
not disputatious
but who know their religion,
who enter into it,
who know just where they stand,
who know what they hold
and what they do not,
who know their creed so well,
that they can give an account of it.”
From his writings
Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
Prayer:
Please pray one decade of the Rosary (any you choose) for this Intention and add the following Prayer:
O God our heavenly Father,
we offer You heartfelt thanks
for the life and holiness of John Henry Newman.
In him You give us,
an inspiring example of priest and teacher,
heroic and humble, in his labour
for the salvation of souls
and the pursuit of holiness.
Through his intercession,
we ask You to lead us,
by the kindly light of the Holy Spirit
and so grant us peace and joy,
in the one fold of the Redeemer.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen
Thought for the Day – 10 October – The Memorial of Blessed Angela Truszkowska (1825-1899)
Excerpt from the
Address of the Holy Father JOHN PAUL II
to the Sisters of Saint Felix of Cantalice
Friday 16 June 2000
“Your Foundress would often take the children in her care to the Capuchin Church in Warsaw where Saint Felix is shown bearing the Infant Jesus in his arms. In the figure of the Holy Child, Blessed Maria Angela recognised the little ones she was called to serve. She knew that Saint Felix was shown bearing the Infant Jesus in his arms, because, in bearing the burdens of the needy, he had carried in his arms the poor Christ Himself and she recognised this as her own calling. By bearing the burdens of the weakest she and her Sisters would bear in their arms the “little” Lord Jesus. Blessed Maria Angela knew too, that it was Mary who had placed the Holy Child in the arms of Saint Felix and that, it was Mary, who was now placing her Infant Son in the arms of the Sisters of Saint Felix. How right then that she should dedicate the Congregation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
3. Yet the sword which pierced Mary’s heart (cf. Lk 2:35) pierced the heart of the Foundress too. “Love means giving”, she wrote, “giving everything that love asks for, giving immediately, without regrets, with joy and wanting even more to be asked of us.” In obeying the logic of the Incarnation and bearing in her arms, the Lord himself, Blessed Maria Angela became a victim of love. Step by step she ascended the hill of Calvary, in a journey of suffering, both physical and spiritual, until her life was ablaze with the mystery of the Cross.
As she journeyed more deeply into Calvary’s darkness she became more insistent, that at the heart of the Congregation’s life, there should be devotion above all to the Holy Eucharist and to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. She bequeathed to her Sisters the motto: “All through the Heart of Mary in honour of the Most Blessed Sacrament”. In long hours of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, she learnt that she and her Sisters were called to “reproduce the pattern of the Lord’s death” (Phil 3:10) so that they might become the Eucharist. And in the Mother of Christ, Blessed Mary Angela recognised, the one who shared in her Son’s Passion most intimately and she knew, that this was the Sisters’ calling as well. In Mary Immaculate she recognised the woman of the Magnificat, the woman whose self-emptying, allowed God to fill her with the joy of the Holy Spirit. This was to be the life of the Sisters of Saint Felix.
4. Ours is a very different world but we are no less challenged by the spiritual lethargy of our time and by the question of where true freedom lies. It is the Church’s sacred duty to proclaim to the world the true answer to that question and Religious men and women, are crucial in that task. For the Felician Sisters, this must mean, an ever more radical fidelity to the program of life bequeathed to you by your Foundress, since, if there is not this fidelity among you, then you too can fall victim to the spiritual confusion of the age and there may emerge among you, the anxiety and disunity which are its fruits.
I urge you, therefore, dear Sisters, at this critical time in the life of your Congregation, to commit yourself in this General Chapter to more ardent worship of the Most Blessed Sacrament, to deeper devotion to Mary Immaculate and to a more radical love of the charism of your Foundress. Embrace the Lord’s Cross as Blessed Angela did! Then you will become the Eucharist your whole life will sing Magnificat, your poverty will be filled with “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Eph 3:8). Entrusting the General Chapter and the entire Congregation to Mary, Mother of Sorrows and Mother of all our joys and to the intercession of Saint Francis, Saint Felix and your Blessed Foundress, I gladly impart my Apostolic Blessing, as a pledge of endless grace and peace in Jesus Christ, “the faithful witness and firstborn from the dead” (Rev 1:5).
Prayer for the Intercession of Blessed Angela
God our Father,
we praise and thank You
for the gift of Blessed Angela,
who lived Your will,
in faith and trust
and lived Your love,
in service to others.
I pray, in confidence,
that through her intercession
You will grant me
the favour which I request.
I ask this,
through Christ our Lord.
Amen
One Minute Reflection – 10 October – Thursday of the Twenty Seventh week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Gospel: Luke 11:5–13 and the Memorial of Blessed Angela Truszkowska (1825-1899)
“For everyone who asks, receives and he who seeks, finds and to him who knocks, it will be opened.”… Luke 11:10
REFLECTION – “Yes, my Lord, You do desire that I should ask You, You are ever listening for my voice. There is nothing I cannot get from You. Oh, I confess my heinous neglect of this great privilege. I am very guilty. I have trifled with the highest of gifts – the power to move Omnipotence. How slack I am, I in praying to You for my own needs! how little have I thought of the needs of others! How little have I brought before You the needs of the world – of Your Church! How little have I asked for graces in detail! and for aid in daily wants! How little have I interceded for individuals! How little have I accompanied actions and undertakings, in themselves good, with prayer for Your guidance and blessing!”… Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
PRAYER – Help us my Lord, to discern through prayer and meditation, what You truly want of us. Then enable us to offer it to You and indeed to offer myself and all I have to You. Teach us to listen that we might hear Your answers, teach us to wait in patience for that which we ask and to trust in Your answer and teach us to constantly knock at Your door in prayer. May Blessed Angela Truszkowska, pray for Holy Mother Church, pray for all the members of the Mystical Body, pray for our sons and daughters and for us all, pray for me! Amen
Journeying with Newman
The Thanksgiving Novena for, with and to
the beloved and blessed John Henry Newman
Day Six – 9 October
His Feast Day!
Intention:
That we are blessed with more vocations to the priesthood.
“Regarding Christianity
ten thousand difficulties,
do not make
one doubt.”
From his writings
Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
Prayer
Please pray one decade of the Rosary (any you choose) for this Intention and add the following Prayer:
O God our heavenly Father,
we offer You heartfelt thanks
for the life and holiness of John Henry Newman.
In him You give us,
an inspiring example of priest and teacher,
heroic and humble, in his labour
for the salvation of souls
and the pursuit of holiness.
Through his intercession,
we ask You to lead us,
by the kindly light of the Holy Spirit
and so grant us peace and joy,
in the one fold of the Redeemer.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen
Thought for the Day – 9 October – The Memorial of Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
LETTER OF THE HOLY FATHER JOHN PAUL II
ON THE OCCASION OF THE 2nd CENTENARY
OF THE BIRTH OF CARDINAL JOHN HENRY NEWMAN
To The Most Reverend Vincent Nichols
Archbishop of Birmingham
On the occasion of the second centenary of the birth of the Venerable Servant of God John Henry Newman, I gladly join you, your Brother Bishops of England and Wales, the priests of the Birmingham Oratory and a host of voices throughout the world in praising God for the gift of the great English Cardinal and for his enduring witness.
As Newman pondered the mysterious divine plan unfolding in his own life, he came to a deep and abiding sense that “God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another. I have my mission” (Meditations and Devotions). How true that thought now appears as we consider his long life and the influence which he has had beyond death. He was born at a particular time – 21 February 1801, in a particular place – London and to a particular family – the firstborn of John Newman and Jemima Fourdrinier. But the particular mission entrusted to him by God ensures that John Henry Newman belongs to every time and place and people.
Newman was born in troubled times which knew not only political and military upheaval but also turbulence of soul. Old certitudes were shaken and believers were faced with the threat of rationalism on the one hand and fideism on the other. Rationalism brought with it a rejection of both authority and transcendence, while fideism turned from the challenges of history and the tasks of this world to a distorted dependence upon authority and the supernatural. In such a world, Newman came eventually to a remarkable synthesis of faith and reason which were for him “like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of the truth” (Fides et Ratio, Introduction; cf. ibid., 74). It was the passionate contemplation of truth which also led him to a liberating acceptance of the authority which has its roots in Christ and to the sense of the supernatural which opens the human mind and heart to the full range of possibilities revealed in Christ. “Lead kindly light amid the encircling gloom, lead Thou me on”, Newman wrote in The Pillar of the Cloud and for him Christ was the light at the heart of every kind of darkness. For his tomb he chose the inscription: Ex umbris et imaginibus in veritatem and it was clear at the end of his life’s journey that Christ was the truth he had found.
But Newman’s search was shot through with pain. Once he had come to that unshakeable sense of the mission entrusted to him by God, he declared: “Therefore, I will trust Him… If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him, in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him… He does nothing in vain… He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide the future from me. (Meditations and Devotions). All these trials he knew in his life but rather than diminish or destroy him they paradoxically strengthened his faith in the God who had called him, and confirmed him in the conviction that God “does nothing in vain”. In the end, therefore, what shines forth in Newman is the mystery of the Lord’s Cross – this was the heart of his mission, the absolute truth which he contemplated, the “kindly light” which led him on.
As we thank God for the gift of the Venerable John Henry Newman on the two hundredth anniversary of his birth, we pray that this sure and eloquent guide in our perplexity will also become for us in all our needs a powerful intercessor before the throne of grace. Let us pray that the time will soon come when the Church can officially and publicly proclaim the exemplary holiness of Cardinal John Henry Newman, one of the most distinguished and versatile champions of English spirituality. With my Apostolic Blessing.
From the Vatican, 22 January 2001.
IOANNES PAULUS II
Quote of the Day – 9 October – Wednesday of the Twenty Seventh Week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 11:1–4 and the Memorial of Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
Be Merciful, Be Gracious
By Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
Be merciful, be gracious, Lord, deliver me.
From the sins that are past,
From Your frown and Your ire,
From the perils of dying,
From any complying
With sin or denying
My God, or relying
On self,
at the last,
From the nethermost fire,
From all that is evil,
From the power of the devil,
Your servant deliver,
For once and forever,
By Your Birth and By Your Cross,
Rescue me from endless loss,
By Your death and burial,
Save me from a final fall,
By Your rising from the tomb,
By Your mounting up above,
By the Spirit’s gracious love,
Save me in the day of doom.
Amen
One Minute Reflection – 9 October – Wednesday of the Twenty Seventh Week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 11:1–4 and the Memorial of Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
“Father, hallowed be thy name.”…Luke 11:2
REFLECTION – “Thou art all-holy, yet I come before Thee. I place myself, under Thy pure and piercing eyes which look me through and through and discern every trace and every motion of evil within me. Why do I do so?
First of all, for this reason. To whom should I go? What can I do better? Who is there in the whole world that can help me? Who that will care for me, or pity me, or have any kind thought of me, if I cannot obtain it of Thee? I know Thou art of purer eyes than to behold iniquity but I know again, that Thou art all-merciful and that Thou so sincerely desires my salvation, that Thou has died for me. Therefore, though I am in a great strait, I will rather fall into Thy hands, than into those of any creature ….
I have an instinct within me, which leads me to rise and go to my Father, to name the Name of His well-beloved Son and having named it, to place myself, unreservedly in His hands, saying “if Thou, Lord, will mark iniquity, Lord, who shall stand it? For with Thee, there is merciful forgiveness.” … Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890) To My Father
PRAYER – Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. And grant us Lord, our Father, that the prayers of Blessed John Henry Newman, the Blessed Virgin Mary and all our holy saints, may help us in our needs. We make our prayer, through Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.
Journeying with Newman
The Thanksgiving Novena for, with and to
the beloved and blessed John Henry Newman
Day Five – 8 October
“We can believe what we choose.
We are answerable
for what we choose
to believe.”
From his writings
Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
Prayer
Please pray one decade of the Rosary (any you choose) for this Intention and add the following Prayer:
O God our heavenly Father,
we offer You heartfelt thanks
for the life and holiness of John Henry Newman.
In him You give us,
an inspiring example of priest and teacher,
heroic and humble, in his labour
for the salvation of souls
and the pursuit of holiness.
Through his intercession,
we ask You to lead us,
by the kindly light of the Holy Spirit
and so grant us peace and joy,
in the one fold of the Redeemer.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen
Thought for the Day – 8 October – Tuesday of the Twenty Seventh week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 10:38–42
Saint Gertrude the Great of Helfta (1256-1301)
The Herald of Divine Love, Book III, SC 143
On a certain occasion, while she was interiorly worrying that she was unable to feel as much desire as was fitting to the glory of God, Gertrude received this divine explanation: that God is fully satisfied when a person, without being able to do more, is in a state of wanting, if possible, to have great desires. Just as great as they would like to have, so they are before God. In a heart filled with the desire, of wanting to desire, God finds greater delights to dwell, than we do in the flowering of early spring.
On another occasion, due to illness, she had been less attentive to God for several days when, regaining consciousness of this fault, she started to confess this negligence to the Lord with a pious humility. And as she was fearing she would have to bear a long delay before recovering the former sweetness of the divine presence, all at once, in a flash, she was aware that God was bending towards her with a truly loving embrace with these words: “Daughter, you are always with me and all that is mine, is yours” (cf. Lk 15:31). She understood by this reply that, even though, through the weakness of nature, a person might sometimes omit to direct their attention to God, nevertheless, in His merciful kindness, He Himself does not neglect to hold all our works, as worthy of an eternal reward, provided only, that we do not deliberately turn away from Him and that we always repent of everything, for which our consciences reproach us.
The Elder Brother’s Prayer
Teach me, my Lord,
to be sweet and gentle in all the events of life,
in disappointments,
in the thoughtlessness of those I trusted,
in the unfaithfulness of those on whom I relied.
Let me put myself aside,
to think of the happiness of others,
to hide my little pains and heartaches,
so that I may be the only one to suffer from them.
Teach me to profit by the suffering
that comes across my path.
Let me so use it that it may make me
patient, not irritable.
That it may make me broad in my forgiveness,
not narrow, haughty and overbearing.
May no one be less good
for having come within my influence.
No one less pure, less true, less kind,
less noble for having been a fellow traveller
in our journey toward Eternal Life.
As I go my rounds from one distraction to another,
let me whisper from time to time,
a word of love to Thee.
May my life be lived in the supernatural,
full of power for good,
and strong in its purpose of sanctity.
Amen
Quote/s of the Day – 8 October – Tuesday of the Twenty Seventh week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Goaspel: Luke 10:38–42
“Martha, Martha, you are anxious
and worried about many things.
There is need of only one thing.
Mary has chosen the better part
and it will not be taken from her.”
“Our Lord’s words teach us that though we labour
among the many distractions of this world,
we should have but one goal.
For we are but travellers
on a journey without as yet a fixed abode,
we are on our way, not yet in our native land,
we are in a state of longing, not yet of enjoyment.
But let us continue on our way
and continue without sloth or respite,
so that we may ultimately arrive at our destination.”
“Action and contemplation
are very close companions;
they live together in one house on equal terms.
Martha and Mary are sisters.”
“In bustling about and busying herself,
Martha risks forgetting —
and this is the problem —
the most important thing,
which is the presence of the Guest…
Most importantly He ought to be listened to. “
One Minute Reflection – 9 October – Tuesday of the Twenty Seventh week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Goaspel: Luke 10:38–42 and the Memorial of Saint Simeon
“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her.”…Luke 10:41-42
REFLECTION – ” Has not the desire of wealth so eaten into our hearts, that we think poverty the worst of ills, that we think the security of property the first of blessings, that we measure all things by mammon, that we not only labour for it ourselves but so involve in our own evil earnestness all around us, that they cannot keep from the pursuit of it though they would? Does not the frame-work of society move forward on such a plan as to enlist into the service of the world all its members, almost whether they will or no? Would not a man be thought unaspiring and unproductive, who cared not to push forward in pursuit of that which Scripture calls “the root of all evil,” the love of which it calls “covetousness which is idolatry,” and the possession of which it solemnly declares all but excludes a man from the kingdom of Heaven? Alas! can this be denied?
And, therefore, of course, the entire system of tranquil devotion, holy meditation, freedom from worldly cares, which our Saviour praises in the case of Mary, is cast aside, misunderstood, or rather missed altogether, as much as the glorious sunshine by a blind man, slandered and ridiculed as something contemptible and vain. Surely, no-one, who is candid, can doubt, that, were Mary now living, did she choose on principle that state of life in which Christ found her, were she content to remain at Jesus’ feet hearing His word and disengaged from this troublesome world, she would be blamed and pitied. Careless men would gaze strangely and wise men compassionately, on such an one, as wasting her life and choosing a melancholy, cheerless portion. Long ago was this the case. Even in holy Martha, zealous as she was and true-hearted, even in her instance, we are reminded of the impatience and disdain with which those who are far different from her, the children of this world, regard such as dedicate themselves to God. Long ago, even in her, we seem to witness, as in type, the rash, unchristian way in which this age disparages devotional services.”…Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
PRAYER – Lord God and Father, who entrusted the earth to men and each to the other, as one family of man, give us the grace this day, to see Your Face in our neighbour and to seek all who need our help. Grant us the grace to work faithfully for Your glory and for our neighbour’s good and never cease to praise Your glory and beg the grace of Your love and mercy. May the prayers of St Simeon and may Mary our Holy Mother, keep us ever in her guiding care. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen.
Journeying with Newman
The Thanksgiving Novena for, with and to
the beloved and blessed John Henry Newman
Day Four – 7 October – Memorial of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary
Intention:
That we find joy and consolation in the habit of prayer.
“The Rosary seems so simple and easy
but you know God chooses the small things
of the world, to humble the great.”
From his writings
Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
Prayer
Please pray one decade of the Rosary (any you choose) for this Intention and add the following Prayer:
O God our heavenly Father,
we offer You heartfelt thanks
for the life and holiness of John Henry Newman.
In him You give us,
an inspiring example of priest and teacher,
heroic and humble, in his labour
for the salvation of souls
and the pursuit of holiness.
Through his intercession,
we ask You to lead us,
by the kindly light of the Holy Spirit
and so grant us peace and joy,
in the one fold of the Redeemer.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen
Thought for the Day – 7 October – The Memorial of – Our Lady of the Rosary
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)
Abbot and Doctor of the Church
An excerpt from one of his Sermons
The child to be born of you will be called holy, the Son of God, the fountain of wisdom, the Word of the Father on high. Through you, blessed Virgin, this Word will become flesh, so that even though, as He says: I am in the Father and the Father is in me, it is still true for him to say: “I came forth from God and am here.”
In the beginning was the Word. The spring was gushing forth, yet still within Himself. Indeed, the Word was with God, truly dwelling in inaccessible light. And the Lord said from the beginning – I think thoughts of peace and not of affliction. Yet your thought was locked within you and whatever you thought, we did not know, for who knew the mind of the Lord, or who was His counsellor?
And so the idea of peace came down to do the work of peace – The Word was made flesh and even now dwells among us. It is by faith that He dwells in our hearts, in our memory, our intellect and penetrates even into our imagination. What concept could man have of God if he did not first fashion an image of Him in his heart? By nature incomprehensible and inaccessible, He was invisible and unthinkable but now He wished to be understood, to be seen and thought of.
But how, you ask, was this done? He lay in a manger and rested on a virgin’s breast, preached on a mountain and spent the night in prayer. He hung on a cross, grew pale in death and roamed free among the dead and ruled over those in hell. He rose again on the third day and showed the apostles the wounds of the nails, the signs of victory and finally, in their presence, He ascended to the sanctuary of heaven.
How can we not contemplate this story in truth, piety and holiness? Whatever of all this I consider, it is God I am considering, in all this, He is my God. I have said it is wise to meditate on these truths and I have thought it right to recall, the abundant sweetness, given by the fruits of this priestly root and Mary, drawing abundantly from heaven, has caused this sweetness to overflow for us.
Quote/s of the Day – 7 October – Our Lady of the Rosary
“Never,
as in the Rosary,
do the life of Jesus
and that of Mary,
appear so deeply joined.
Mary lives
only in Christ
and
for Christ!”
“By making our own,
the words of the Angel Gabriel
and Saint Elizabeth contained in the Hail Mary,
we find ourselves constantly drawn
to seek out afresh in Mary,
in her arms and in her heart,
the “blessed fruit of her womb.”
“The centre of gravity
in the Hail Mary,
the hinge, as it were,
which joins its two parts,
is the name of Jesus.”
#15, 24 and 33 – Apostolic Letter “Rosarium Virginis Mariae”
“Mary joins us, she fights at our side.
She supports Christians in the fight
against the forces of evil… through the Rosary.”
“Do you pray the Rosary each day?”
Intention
That we are blessed with more vocations to the priesthood.
“Had Angels been your priests, my brethren,
they could not have condoled with you,
sympathised with you,
have had compassion on you,
felt tenderly for you
and made allowances for you,
as we can;
they could not have been your patterns
and guides and have led you on
from your own selves,
into a new life,
as they can –
who come from the midst of you.”
From his writings
Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
Prayer
Please pray one decade of the Rosary (any you choose) for this Intention and add the following Prayer:
O God our heavenly Father,
we offer You heartfelt thanks
for the life and holiness of John Henry Newman.
In him You give us,
an inspiring example of priest and teacher,
heroic and humble, in his labour
for the salvation of souls
and the pursuit of holiness.
Through his intercession,
we ask You to lead us,
by the kindly light of the Holy Spirit
and so grant us peace and joy,
in the one fold of the Redeemer.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen
Sunday Reflection – 6 October – Twenty Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
“I heard these words from the Host:
I desired to rest in your hands,
not only in your heart.”Jesus to St Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938)
Diary 160
Journeying with Newman
The Thanksgiving Novena for, with and to
the beloved and blessed John Henry Newman
Day Two – 5 October
Intention
That we learn to see Jesus in the members of our families.
“I have my mission,
I am a link in a chain,
a bond of connection
between persons.
He has not created me for naught.
I shall do good,
I shall know His work,
I shall be an angel of peace,
a preacher of truth,
in my own place.”
From his writings
Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
Prayer
Please pray one decade of the Rosary (any you choose) for this Intention and add the following Prayer:
O God our heavenly Father,
we offer You heartfelt thanks
for the life and holiness of John Henry Newman.
In him You give us,
an inspiring example of priest and teacher,
heroic and humble, in his labour
for the salvation of souls
and the pursuit of holiness.
Through his intercession,
we ask You to lead us,
by the kindly light of the Holy Spirit
and so grant us peace and joy,
in the one fold of the Redeemer.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen
Thought for the Day – 5 October – The Memorial of St Maria Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938)
And you, Faustina, a gift of God to our time, a gift from the land of Poland to the whole Church, obtain for us an awareness of the depth of divine mercy, help us to have a living experience of it and to bear witness to it among our brothers and sisters.
May your message of light and hope spread throughout the world, spurring sinners to conversion, calming rivalries and hatred and opening individuals and nations to
the practice of brotherhood.
Today, fixing our gaze with you on the Face of the risen Christ, let us make our own your prayer of trusting abandonment and say with firm hope:
Christ Jesus, I trust in you! Jezu, ufam tobie!
(From St John Paul’s Canonisation Homily, St Peter’s Square, 30 April 2000)
The red and pale white rays, emanating from the Heart of Jesus, in the Image of Divine Mercy represent the blood and water, which gushed forth from His pierced Heart on Good Friday. Jesus asked that all who venerate His mercy, honour His Passion, by remembering Him with this prayer, at 3 O’Clock in the afternoon.
Divine Mercy 3 O’Clock Prayer
St Faustina Kowalska (1905–1938)
You expired, O Jesus,
but the source of life
gushed forth for souls
and an ocean of mercy
opened up for the whole world.
O Fount of Life,
unfathomable Divine Mercy,
envelop the whole world
and empty Yourself out upon us.
O Blood and Water,
which gushed forth
from the Heart of Jesus
as a fount of mercy for us,
I trust in You.
Amen
Quote/s of the Day – 5 October – The Memorial of St Maria Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938)
“Oh, how great, is the goodness of God,
greater than we can understand.
There are moments
and there are mysteries,
of the Divine Mercy
over which, the heavens are astounded.
Let our judgement of souls cease,
for God’s mercy upon them, is extraordinary.”
“I know well that the greater
and more beautiful the work is,
the more terrible will be the storms,
that rage against it.”
AnaStpaul 
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