Quote/s of the Day – 13 August – Tuesday of the Nineteenth week in Ordinary Time, Year C and the Memorial of St John Berchmans SJ (1599-1621)
“Our true worth,
does not consist, in what
human beings think of us.
What we really are,
consists, in what God
knows us to be.”
As he was dying, he pressed to his heart his Crucifix, his Rosary
and the Book of Rules, saying:
“These are my three treasures,
with these I shall gladly die.”
Quote/s of the Day – 12 August – The Memorial of Blessed Karl Marie Leisner (1915–1945) Priest, Martyr – Ordained in Dachau Concentration Camp
“Christ, You are my passion!”
“Christ, I give You my life
without reservation.
What You do with it,
You alone should determine.
Fiat!”
22 November 1939
“God, I thank You for the days of this
burdensome disease and yet again for
the days spent unfree and imprisoned.
Everything has its meaning.
You only want what is extremely good for me.
With my whole heart, I pray for all
who are not well disposed toward me
and ask You to forgive them.”
11 November 1939
“The days of exterior captivity are
magnificent days of becoming
interiorly free for God,
who alone is the shelter and
stronghold of freedom… “
17 November 1939
“On the feast of St Stephen,
I celebrated my First Holy Mass.
For the first time,
I offered the Holy Sacrifice for
everyone, on the altar in our Chapel here.
You were all with me in spirit…”
30 December 1944
His last diary entry reads:
Good night
eternal, holy God,
dear Mother
Thrice Admirable…
Bless, too, my
enemies, O Lord!!
25 July 1945 (he died on 12 August 1945)
VICTOR IN VINCULIS – A VICTOR IN CHAINS!
Quote/s of the Day – 4 August – Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 12:13–21 and The Memorial of St John Vianney (1786-1859)
“But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” … Luke 12:20-21
“Someone who works frenziedly on Sundays, thinking he is going to earn more money or get more done, is making a mistake in his calculations! Can two or three dollars ever compensate for the harm he does himself by violating the law of God?
You imagine everything depends on your work but then an illness, an accident…! It takes so little: a storm, hail, frost…
Do not work for food that perishes but for that which dwells in eternal life. What will you gain by having worked on Sunday? 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!
My brethren, we should die on Sundays and come back to life again on Mondays.
Sunday belongs to God – it is His day, the Day of the Lord.
He made all the days of the week and could have kept them all.
He has given you six of them and has only held back the seventh for himself!”
“All our religion is but a false religion
and all our virtues are mere illusions
and we ourselves are only hypocrites in the sight of God,
if we have not that universal charity for everyone –
for the good and for the bad,
for the poor and for the rich
and for all those who do us harm,
as much as those who do us good.”
One Minute Reflection – 4 July – Thursday of the Thirteenth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Matthew 9:1–8
“Rise and walk”…Matthew 9:5
REFLECTION – “If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, then He who raised Christ from the dead will bring your mortal bodies to life also.” (Rom 8:11) Now it is a natural human body, then it will be a spiritual body. “Adam the first man, became a living soul, the last Adam has become a life-giving spirit.” (1 Cor 15:45) That is why He “will bring your mortal bodies to life… through His Spirit dwelling in you.”
Oh, what a happy Hallelujah we will sing then! What security! No more adversary, no more enemy, we won’t lose a single friend. Here below, we sing God’s praises in the midst of our worries, in heaven, we will sing them in perfect tranquillity. Here below, we sing them as people who have to die, in heaven, it will be in a life that never ends. Here below, in hope, in heaven, in the reality. Here below, we are travellers, then we shall be in our homeland. So let us begin singing already now, brothers, not in order to savour the rest but in order to alleviate our work. Let us sing like travellers. Sing but without ceasing to walk, sing to console yourself in the midst of fatigue… Sing and walk!
What does that mean, walk? Go forward, make progress in doing good… Go forward by walking towards the good, advance in faith and in the purity of your habits. Sing and walk! Don’t lose your way; don’t turn back, don’t stand still. Let us turn towards the Lord.”... St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor – Sermon 256
PRAYER – Loving God and Father, we turn to You in praise and thanksgiving in good times, in trials and moments of sadness and happiness. May the prayers of Your angels and saints support our weak efforts, today especially we ask St Elizabeth of Portugal and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, to hear our pleas. By the great gift of Your love and mercy You dispel the darkness of sin and bring us to the true Light, Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.
Quote/s of the Day- 24 June – The Solemnity of the Birth of Saint John the Baptist Year C, Gospel: Luke 1:57–66 and the Memorial of St Maria Guadalupe García Zavala (1878-1963) “Mother Lupuita”
“The true secret of love consists in this:
we must forget self
like St John the Baptist
and exalt and glorify the Lord Jesus.”
“Look today to John the Baptist,
an enduring model of fidelity to God and His Law.
John prepared the way for Christ,
by the testimony of his word and his life.
Imitate him with docile and trusting generosity.”
“With deep faith, unlimited hope
and great love for Christ, Mother “Lupita”
sought her own sanctification,
beginning with love for the Heart of Christ
and fidelity to the Church.
In this way she lived the motto
which she left to her daughters:
“Charity to the point of sacrifice
and perseverance until death”.
On the Beatification of
St Maria Guadalupe García Zavala (1878-1963)
“Mother Lupuita”
Quote/s of the Day – 21 June – The Memorial of St Aloysius de Gonzaga SJ (1568-1591)
“I am a piece of twisted iron,
I entered the religious life
to get twisted straight.”
“He who wishes to love God
does not truly love Him,
if he has not an ardent
and constant desire
to suffer for His sake.”
“Take care above all things,
most honoured lady,
not to insult God’s boundless loving kindness,
you would certainly do this,
if you mourned as dead,
one living face-to-face with God,
one whose prayers,
can bring you in your troubles,
more powerful aid,
than they ever could on earth.”
“When He takes away
what He once lent us,
His purpose is to
store our treasure elsewhere,
more safely and bestow on us,
those very blessings,
that we ourselves
would most choose to have.”
(From A Letter to His Mother)
More of this letter here: https://anastpaul.com/2018/06/21/quote-of-the-day-21-june-the-memorial-of-st-aloysius-de-gonzaga-s-j-1568-1591/
One Minute Reflection – 6 May – Monday of the Third week of Easter, Gospel: John 6:22–29
“Do not labour for the food which perishes but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you...”John 6:27
REFLECTION – “Someone who works frenziedly on Sundays, thinking he is going to earn more money or get more done, is making a mistake in his calculations! Can two or three dollars ever compensate for the harm he does himself by violating the law of God? You imagine everything depends on your work, but then an illness, an accident…! It takes so little: a storm, hail, frost… Do not work for food that perishes but for that which dwells in eternal life. What will you gain by having worked on Sunday? 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! My brethren, we should die on Sundays and come back to life again on Mondays. Sunday belongs to God – it is His day, the Day of the Lord. He made all the days of the week and could have kept them all. He has given you six of them and has only held back the seventh for himself!”…St John Vianney (1786-1859)
PRAYER – King of heaven and earth, Lord God, rule over our hearts and bodies this day. Sanctify us and guide our every thought, word and deed, according to the commandments of Your law, so that now and forever, Your grace may free and save us. Let us walk in Your ways and be your lights and thus by our lives, help others to follow You. Grant that the prayers of our blessed Mother, the Mother of Jesus Your Son and St Francois Laval, who always lived for You alone, may help us, as we work through each day to reach our heavenly home. Through Jesus the Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God now and forever, amen.
