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.
Thought for the Day – 2 May – Thursday of the Second week of Easter, Gospel: John 3:31–36 and the Memorial of St Athanasius (297-373)
The Word of God, incorporeal, incorruptible and immaterial, entered our world. Yet it was not as if He had been remote from it up to that time. For there is no part of the world that was ever without His Presence; together with His Father, He continually filled all things and places.
Out of His loving-kindness for us, He came to us and we see this in the way He revealed Himself openly to us. Taking pity on mankind’s weakness and moved by our corruption, He could not stand aside and see death have the mastery over us, He did not want creation to perish and His Father’s work in fashioning man, to be in vain. He, therefore, took to Himself a body, no different from our own, for He did not wish simply to be in a body or only to be seen.
If He had wanted simply to be seen, He could indeed have taken another and nobler, body. Instead, He took our body in its reality.
Within the Virgin, He built himself a temple, that is, a body, He made it His own instrument in which to dwell and to reveal Himself. In this way, He received from mankind, a body like our own and, since all were subject to the corruption of death, He delivered this body over to death for all and with supreme love, offered it to the Father. He did so, to destroy the law of corruption, passed against all men, since all died in Him. The law, which had spent its force on the body of the Lord, could no longer have any power over His fellowmen. Moreover, this was the way in which the Word was to restore mankind to immortality, after it had fallen into corruption and summon it back, from death to life. He utterly destroyed the power death had against mankind—as fire consumes chaff—by means of the body He had taken and the grace of the Resurrection.
This is the reason why the Word assumed a body that could die, so that this body, sharing in the Word who is above all, might satisfy death’s requirement in place of all. Because of the Word dwelling in that body, it would remain incorruptible and all would be freed forever from corruption, by the grace of the Resurrection.
In death, the Word made a spotless sacrifice and oblation of the body He had taken. By dying for others, He immediately banished death for all mankind.
In this way the Word of God, who is above all, dedicated and offered His temple, the instrument that was His body, for us all, as He said and so paid, by His own death the debt that was owed. The immortal Son of God, united with all men by likeness of nature, thus fulfilled all justice, in restoring mankind to immortality, by the promise of the resurrection.
The corruption of death, no longer holds any power over mankind, thanks to the Word, who has come to dwell among them through His one body.
Lenten Reflection – 20 March – Wednesday of the Second week of Lent, Year C
Each of us must enter on eternity
Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
“Each of us must come to the evening of life. Each of us must enter on eternity. Each of us must come to that quiet, awful time, when we will appear before the Lord of the vineyard and answer for the deeds done in the body, whether they be good or bad. That, my dear brethren, you will have to undergo. … It will be the dread moment of expectation when your fate for eternity is in the balance and when you are about to be sent forth as the companion of either saints or devils, without possibility of change. There can be no change, there can be no reversal. As that judgement decides it, so it will be forever and ever. Such is the particular judgement. … when we find ourselves by ourselves, one by one, in His presence and have brought before us most vividly all the thoughts, words and deeds of this past life. Who will be able to bear the sight of himself?
And yet we shall be obliged steadily to confront ourselves and to see ourselves. In this life we shrink from knowing our real selves. We do not like to know how sinful we are. We love those who prophesy smooth things to us and we are angry with those who tell us of our faults.
But on that day, not one fault only but all the secret, as well as evident, defects of our character will be clearly brought out. We shall see what we feared to see here and much more. And then, when the full sight of ourselves comes to us, who will not wish that he had known more of himself here, rather than leaving it for the inevitable day to reveal it all to him! …………………….We can believe what we choose. We are answerable for what we choose to believe.”
Lenten Reflection – 16 March – Saturday of the First week of Lent, Year C, Gospel: Matthew 5:43–48
“But I say to you… pray for those who persecute you”
You have often heard it said that we are living through a marvellous time, a time of great men… It is easy to understand why people long for a strong and capable leader to arise… This kind of neo-paganism [Nazism] believes all nature to be an emanation of the divine…; it admires a race that is nobler and purer than any other… From this comes the cult of race and blood, the cult of its own people’s heroes.
By starting out from so mistaken an idea, this view of things can lead to capital errors. It is tragic to see how much enthusiasm, how many efforts are placed at the service of such an erroneous and baseless ideal! However, we can learn from our enemy. We can learn from his deceitful philosophy how to purify and improve our own ideal, we can learn how to develop great love for this ideal, how to arouse immense enthusiasm and even a readiness to live and die for it, how to strengthen our hearts to incarnate it in ourselves and in others…
When we talk about the coming of the Kingdom and pray for its coming, we are not thinking of a discrimination according to race or blood but of the brotherhood of all, for all men are our brothers – not excluding even those who hate and attack us – in a close bond with the One, who causes the sun to rise on the good and the bad alike (Mt 5:45).
Daily Meditation:
Turn our hearts to You.
The Saturdays of Lent have a grateful and uplifting tone to them.
Our lesson today reminds us of the covenant God made long ago:
you be My people
and I will be your God.
In the new covenant, without condition,
God is faithful to us, even if we are not.
Jesus calls us to a new way of being –
loving others as we have been loved –
which includes loving those who do not love us.
We are to be as pure in our love,
as God is pure in loving us.
You, therefore, must be perfect,
as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Matthew 5:48
Closing Prayer:
Loving God,
Sometimes my heart
turns in every direction
except towards You.
Please help me
to turn my heart toward You,
to gaze upon You in trust
and to seek Your kingdom with all of my heart.
Soften my hardened heart
so that I might love others
as a way to glorify and worship You.
Grant me this
with the ever-present guidance of Your spirit.
May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.
Christ’s martyrs feared neither death nor pain. He triumphed in them who lived in them; and they, who lived not for themselves but for Him, found in death itself the way to life.”
Lenten Preparation Novena – Day Four – 28 February 2019
“Come Back to Me With all your Heart”
Lent 2019 will begin on
Wednesday, 6 March
The Holy Triduum is
Thursday 18 April – Holy Saturday 20 April
Easter Sunday 21 April 2019
Following the Master, every Christian must renounce himself, take up his own cross and participate in the sufferings of Christ (Mt 16:24). Thus transformed into the image of Christ’s death, he is made capable of meditating on the glory of the resurrection. Furthermore, following the Master, he can no longer live for himself but must live for Him who loves him and gave Himself for him. He will also have to live for his brethren, completing “in his flesh that which is lacking in the sufferings of Christ…for the benefit of his body, which is the church” (Ga 2:20; Col 1:24).
In addition, since the Church is closely linked to Christ, the penitence of the individual Christian also has an intimate relationship of its own, with the whole ecclesial community. In fact, not only does he receive in the bosom of the Church through baptism the fundamental gift of “metanoia,” namely the transformation and renewal of the whole person but this gift is restored and reinvigorated, in those members of the Body of Christ, who have fallen into sin, through the sacrament of penance. “Those who approach the sacrament of penance receive from the mercy of God forgiveness for offences committed against Him and at the same time become reconciled with the Church on which they have inflicted a wound by sinning and the Church, cooperates in their conversion, with charity, example and prayer” (Vatican II : LG 11). And in the Church, finally, the little acts of penitence imposed each time in the sacrament, become a form of participation, in a special way, in the infinite expiation of Christ.
A Meditation for this ‘Prelude to Lent’
Reflection – “We cannot escape punishment, here or hereafter – we must take our choice, whether to suffer and mourn a little now, or much then.”
“And then, alas! the truth flashed upon him, he uttered a great and bitter cry, when it was too late. It would have been well, had he uttered it before he came for the blessing, not after it. He repented when it was too late—it had been well if he had repented in time. So I say of persons who have in any way sinned. It is good for them not to forget that they have sinned. It is good that they should lament and deplore their past sins. Depend upon it, they will wail over them in the next world, if they wail not here. Which is better, to utter a bitter cry now or then?—then, when the blessing of eternal life is refused them by the just Judge at the last day, or now, in order that they may gain it? Let us be wise enough to have our agony in this world, not in the next. If we humble ourselves now, God will pardon us then. We cannot escape punishment, here or hereafter – we must take our choice, whether to suffer and mourn a little now, or much then.”
Lenten Preparation Novena
DAY FOUR
Loving Father,
may I live this Lent
as an unceasing act of love for You.
Let me grow in understanding
of the riches hidden in Christ.
In my prayer,
grant me a spirit to see what must be done
and the strength to do what is right.
Make me radiant in Your presence
with the strength of my yearning for You.
By my fasting, fortify my resolve
to carry out Your loving commands.
Bless me with an increase in devoutness of life,
so that I may be found steadfast in faith.
And by my almsgiving, renew and purify my heart,
so that I may hold to the
things that eternally endure.
Help me to repent of my sins now
and make reparation throughout
this Lenten season and each day thereafter.
United with your Son,
who makes His way to Calvary,
I offer You my intentions
……………………………………………
(Mention your special intention)
Amen
Lenten Preparation Novena – Day Two – 26 February 2019
“Come Back to Me With all your Heart”
Lent 2019 will begin on
Wednesday, 6 March
The Holy Triduum is
Thursday, 18 April, Good Friday, 19 April, Holy Saturday, 20 April
Easter Sunday – 21 April 2019
And he sat down and called the twelve and he said to them,
“If any one would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”
Mark 9:35
Reflection:
“Answer those whom the marks of the Passion in Christ’s body plunge into uncertainty and who put the question: “Who is this king of glory?” (Ps 24[23]:8). Answer them that He is the Christ,“the mighty, the valiant” (ibid.) in everything He has done and continues to do…
Is He insignificant because He made Himself humble for your sake? Is He to be despised because, as a Good Shepherd laying down His life for His flock, He came in search of the lost sheep and, having found it, brought it back on the shoulders that bore the cross for its sake and, when He had carried it back to the life on high, set it down amongst the faithful flock who remained in the fold? (cf. Jn 10:11; Lk 15:4).
Do you despise Him because he lighted a lamp, His own flesh and swept His house in search of the lost coin, cleansing the world from sin, while losing the beauty of His royal likeness through His Passion? (Lk 15,8f.; Mk 12,16)…
Do you consider Him less great, because He girds Himself with a linen towel to wash His disciples’ feet, showing them, that the certain way to be exalted, is to humble oneself? (Jn 13:4f.). Do you hold a grievance against God because Christ humbles Himself, turning His mind to earth so as to raise up with Himself those who are bowed beneath the weight of sin? (Mt 11:28).
Do you accuse Him of having eaten with publicans and sinners… for their salvation? (Mt 9:10). How can you take to task a doctor who bends over the sufferings and wounds of the sick to bring them healing?”
A Meditation for this ‘Prelude to Lent’
Do I despise the great gift of God’s Love?
“Is it not, I say, quite a common case for men and for women to neglect religion in their best days? They have been baptised, they have been taught their duty, they have been taught to pray, they know their Creed, their conscience has been enlightened, they have opportunity to come to Church. This is their birthright, the privileges of their birth of water and of the Spirit but they sell it, as Esau did. They are tempted by Satan, with some bribe of this world and they give up their birthright, in exchange for what is sure to perish and to make them perish with it. Esau was tempted by the mess of pottage which he saw in Jacob’s hands. Satan arrested the eyes of his lust and he gazed on the pottage, as Eve gazed on the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve sold their birthright for the fruit of a tree—that was their bargain. Esau sold his for a mess of lentils—that was his.
And men now-a-days often sell theirs, not indeed for any thing so simple as fruit or herb but for some evil gain or other, which at the time they think worth purchasing at any price, perhaps for the enjoyment of some particular sin, or more commonly for the indulgence of general carelessness and spiritual sloth, because they do not like a strict life and have no heart for God’s service. And thus, they are profane persons, for they despise the great gift of God.”
“The world tells us to seek success, power and money.
God tells us to seek humility, service and love.”
Lenten Preparation Novena
DAY TWO
Lord, during this Lenten Season,
nourish me with Your Word of life
and make me one
with You in love and prayer.
Fill my heart with Your love
and keep me faithful to the Gospel of Christ.
Give me the grace to rise above my human weakness.
Give me new life by Your Sacraments, especially the Mass.
Father, our source of life,
I reach out with joy to grasp Your hand;
let me walk more readily in Your ways.
Guide me in Your gentle mercy,
for left to myself, I cannot do Your Will.
Father of love, source of all blessings,
help me to pass from my old life of sin
to the new life of grace.
Help me to repent of my sins now and make reparation throughout
this Lenten season and each day thereafter.
United with Your Son,
who makes His way to Calvary,
I offer You my intentions
…………………………………………..
(Mention your special intention)
Prepare me for the glory of Your Kingdom.
I ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever.
Amen
Lenten Preparation Novena – Day One – 25 February 2019
“Come Back to Me With all your Heart”
Lent 2019 will begin on
Wednesday, 6 March
The Holy Triduum is
Thursday, 18 April, Good Friday, 19 April, Holy Saturday, 20 April
Easter Sunday – 21 April 2019
How do I want to be during Lent this year? More quiet and thoughtful? More open to God’s desires? B etter able to sit with people who need me? More attentive to sacred readings, whether in church or in private? Do I need to be more compassionate toward my own fears and failings? Do I need to become more courageous about using the gifts God has given me?
If we want this year’s Lent to be life changing, we have to start preparing now. Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, not the first day to start thinking about your Lenten practices for this year. The devil and his minions have already begun preparing their attack to dislodge your Lenten sacrifice. What are you doing to prepare yourself and gather reinforcements against him?
The Big Three:
Fasting is not just a spiritual
diet. By denying our bodies,
our physical hunger reminds us
of the hunger of our souls for
God, our longing for a deeper
relationship with our Lord.
Almsgiving teaches us to
separate ourselves from material possessions. By freely giving
of our money and possessions,
we learn to trust the Lord more
deeply for our own daily needs.
Finally, an emphasis on prayer
during Lent is a way to stir up
our love and ardour by having a
deepening conversation with the
Almighty. Remember that the
light of God’s love shines more
brightly in the darkness of the
recognition of our own sinfulness
Pre-planning – what will I do?
• Begin each morning with the prayer: “Lord, I offer you this day and all that I think and do and say.”
• Attend Daily Mass as often as possible.
• Pray the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary.
• Make the Stations of the Cross at home or in a parish celebration.
• Read Scripture for 10 minutes every day.
• Pray the Seven Penitential Psalms (Psalm 6, 31, 50, 101, 129 and 142).
• Spend some time in quiet prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.
• Abstain from meat for an extra day or two each week.
• Listen to spiritual music or a spiritual speaker.
• Keep a Lenten journal with your spiritual insights, special intentions, people you want to pray for, hurts and disappointments that you want to offer up and progress reports on your Lenten resolutions.
10 tips for making the season more meaningful
Slow Down – Set aside 10 minutes a day for silent prayer or meditation. It will revitalise your body and your spirit.
Read a good book – You could choose the life of a saint, a spiritual how-to, an inspirational book or one of the pope’s new books.
Be kind – Go out of your way to do something nice for someone else every day.
Get involved – Attend a Lenten lecture or spiritual program.
Volunteer at your parish – Whether it’s the parish fundraiser, cleaning the church or helping with the charity project, it will give you a chance to help others.
Reach out – Invite an inactive Catholic to come with you to receive ashes on Ash Wednesday.
Pray – Especially for people you don’t like and for people who don’t like you.
Tune out – Turn off the television and spend quality time talking with family members or friends.
Clean out closets – Donate gently used items to your local Catholic charity or your Parish Charity.
Donate — Google “Catholic Missions.” Then pick one mission and decide how you can help by sending money, clothing or supplies.
“Prayer, mercy and fasting:
these three are one and they give life to each other.
Fasting is the soul of prayer,
mercy is the lifeblood of fasting.
Let no one try to separate them, they cannot be separated.
If you have only one of them or not all together, you have nothing.
So if you pray, fast,
if fast, show mercy,
if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others.
When you fast, see the fasting of others.
If you hope for mercy, show mercy.
If you look for kindness, show kindness.
If you want to receive, give.”
A Meditation for this ‘Prelude to Lent’
“Each of us must come to the evening of life. Each of us must enter on eternity. Each of us must come to that quiet, awful time, when we will appear before the Lord of the vineyard and answer for the deeds done in the body, whether they be good or bad. That, my dear brethren, you will have to undergo. … It will be the dread moment of expectation when your fate for eternity is in the balance and when you are about to be sent forth as the companion of either saints or devils, without possibility of change. There can be no change, there can be no reversal. As that judgement decides it, so it will be for ever and ever. Such is the particular judgement. … when we find ourselves by ourselves, one by one, in His presence and have brought before us most vividly all the thoughts, words and deeds of this past life. Who will be able to bear the sight of himself? And yet we shall be obliged steadily to confront ourselves and to see ourselves.
In this life we shrink from knowing our real selves. We do not like to know how sinful we are. We love those who prophecy smooth things to us and we are angry with those who tell us of our faults. But on that day, not one fault only but all the secret, as well as evident, defects of our character will be clearly brought out. We shall see what we feared to see here and much more. And then, when the full sight of ourselves comes to us, who will not wish that he had known more of himself here, rather than leaving it for the inevitable day to reveal it all to him! …………………….We can believe what we choose. We are answerable for what we choose to believe.”
Lenten Preparation Novena
DAY ONE
Lord, during this Lenten Season,
nourish me with Your Word of life
and make me one
with You in love and prayer.
Fill my heart with Your love
and keep me faithful to the Gospel of Christ.
Give me the grace to rise above my human weakness.
Give me new life by Your Sacraments, especially the Mass.
Father, our source of life,
I reach out with joy to grasp Your hand;
let me walk more readily in Your ways.
Guide me in Your gentle mercy,
for left to myself I cannot do Your Will.
Father of love, source of all blessings,
help me to pass from my old life of sin
to the new life of grace.
Help me to repent of my sins now and make reparation throughout
this Lenten season and each day thereafter.
United with your Son,
who makes His way to Calvary,
I offer You my intentions
………………………………………
(Mention your special intention)
Prepare me for the glory of Your Kingdom.
I ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever.
Amen
Quote/s of the Day – 19 February – the Memorial of Bl John Sullivan SJ (1861-1933)
“Any friend of the poor
is a friend of God.”
“I hope every single one of you, will have broken, every resolution you made, in the retreat before the end of the week, and if not then, at least in a fortnight. It will do you good and humble you, provided you get up and begin again and do not flop down and lie there on the broad of your back, saying “It’s no use, it’s all over.” Not a bit of it, it’s not all over, it’s only beginning. So up with you and start again. Remember, each time you fall, that you are not back where you were before but are starting again, from where you fell.”
“Be always beginning.
Let the past go.
The saints were always beginning.
That is how they became saints.”
Death is
“Looking on
the lovely Face of God.”
Quote/s of the Day – 10 February – the Memorial of St José Sánchez del Río “Joselito”(1913-1928) and Blessed Aloysius Stepinac (1898–1960) Martyrs
“My faith is not for sale.”
“Blessed be Your name, Lord!
May Your will be done!”
Blessed Alojzije Stepinac’s last words
“We affirm then that all peoples and races descend from God.
In fact, there exists but one race. The members can be white or black.
They can be separated by oceans or live on the opposing poles
but they remain first and foremost, the race created by God,
according to the precepts of natural law
and positive Divine law as it is written,
in the hearts and minds of human, or revealed by Jesus Christ,
the son of God, the sovereign of all peoples.”
25 October 1942
“We always stressed in public life,
the principles of God’s eternal law,
regardless of whether we spoke
about Croats, Serbs, Jews, Gypsies,
Catholics, Muslims, Orthodox or whoever else….
The Catholic Church
does not recognise,
races that rule
and races
that are enslaved.”
Blessed Alojzije Stepinac, 1943
“I know what my duty is.
With the grace of God,
I will carry it out to the end,
without hatred towards anyone
and without fear from anyone.”
One Minute Reflection – 8 February – Friday of the Fourth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Mark 6:14–29 and the Memorial of St Jerome Emiliani (1486–1537)
“I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”…Mark 6:25
REFLECTION – “If it is glorious for the soldiers of this world to return to their fatherland triumphant, after vanquishing the enemy, how much better and greater is the glory for one who, after overcoming the devil, returns triumphant to heaven and after laying him low who had formerly deceived us, brings back the trophies of victory there, whence Adam, the sinner, had been ejected? To offer the Lord the most acceptable gift of an uncorrupted faith, an unshaken virtue of the mind, an illustrious praise of devotion?… To become co-heir of Christ, to be made equal to the angels, to rejoice with the patriarchs, with the apostles, with the prophets in the possession of the heavenly kingdom? What persecution can conquer these thoughts, what torments can overcome them?…
The lands are shut off in persecutions, heaven is open… How great a dignity and, how great a security it is to go forth hence happy, to go forth glorious in the midst of difficulties and affliction! For a moment to shut the eyes with which men and the world are seen, to open them immediately that God and Christ may be seen!… If persecution should come upon such a soldier of God, virtue made ready for battle will not be able to be overcome him. Or if the summons should come beforehand, the faith which was prepared for martyrdom will not be without its reward… In persecution, God crowns loyal military service, in peace, purity of conscience is crowned.”…St Cyprian (c.200-258) Bishop and Martyr, Father of the Church
PRAYER– Father of mercy, You chose St Jerome Emiliani to be a father to orphans in their need. Grant that through his prayer, we may keep faithfully the spirit of sonship, by which we are not only called but really are Your children. Help us to imitate his love and faith, manifesting by our commitment to Your commandments, our true faith. May we be filled with strength and grace as we face persecution and animosity in Your service. We make our prayer through Jesus, our Lord in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen
Quote/s of the Day – 5 February
“If you have a good conscience,
you would not greatly fear death.”
“The glory of the good,
is in their consciences
and not, in the tongues of men.”
“Happy is the man
who renounces everything,
which may bring a stain or burden,
upon his conscience”
“He has great tranquillity of heart,
who cares neither for the praises,
nor the fault-finding of men.
He will easily be content and pacified,
whose conscience is pure.
You are not holier if you are praised,
nor the more worthless,
if you are found fault with.
What you are, that you are;
neither by word can you be made greater,
than what you are in the sight of God.”
“Love alone makes heavy burdens light
and bears in equal balance,
things pleasing and displeasing.
Love bears a heavy burden
and does not feel it
and love, makes bitter things,
tasteful and sweet.”
“Without labour there is no rest,
nor without fighting,
can the victory be won.”
“You shall rest sweetly,
if your heart condemns you not.”
Quote/s of the Day – 20 January – The Memorial of St Pope Fabian (c 200 – c 250) and St Sebastian (Died c 288) – Martyrs for Christ
What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? …No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
“Long live Christ the King!”
“Viva Cristo Rey!”
“From the very beginning of the life of the Church, Christians have always believed that the blood of martyrs is a seed for Christians, as Tertullian said. Today too, in a dramatic way, the blood of a great number of Christian martyrs continues to be shed on the field of the world,with the certain hope that will bear fruit in a rich harvest of holiness, justice, reconciliation and love of God. But we must remember that one is not born a martyr.
Archbishop Romero remarked, ‘We must be willing to die for our faith, even if the Lord does not grant us this honour. … Giving life does not only mean being assassinated; giving life, having the spirit of martyrdom, means offering it in silence, in prayer, in the honest fulfilment of one’s duty; in this silence of everyday life, giving life a little at a time.’”
Quote/s of the Day – 15 January – The Memorial of Bl Nikolaus Gross (1898-1945) Martyr
“If we do not risk our life today,
how do we then, want one day,
to justify ourselves
before God and our people?”
“…One must obey God more than men”.
If something is demanded of us
that goes against God or the Faith,
then, not only, may we but we must,
refuse obedience (towards men).”
“Sometimes, my heart becomes heavy and the task appears insoluble if I measure my own human imperfection and inadequacy against the greatness of the obligation and the weight of the responsibility.
If a generation must pay the highest price, death, for its short life, we look for the answer in ourselves in vain. We find it only in Him in whose hand we are safe in life and in death. We never know what problems are waiting to test the power and strength of our souls…. Man’s ways lie in obscurity.
But even darkness is not without light. Hope and faith, which always hasten ahead of us, already have a presentiment of the breaking of a new dawn. If we know, that the best thing in us, the soul, is immortal, then we also know, that we shall meet each other again”.
“With the clear insight that the Nazi ideology was incompatible with Christian faith, he courageously took up his pen to plead for the dignity of human beings. Nikolaus loved his wife and children very much. However, the inner bond with his own family never allowed him to pull back from confessing Christ and His Church. It was clear to him, “If we do not risk our life today, how then do we want to justify ourselves one day before God and our people?”. For this conviction he submitted to being hanged, so that heaven itself might be opened to him. In the Blessed Martyr Nikolaus Gross was accomplished what the prophet foretold “The just man will live on account of his faith” (Hb 1,4).
Thought for the Day – 28 December – Feast of the Holy Innocents – 4th Day of the Christmas Octave
A tiny child is born, who is a great king. Wise men are led to him from afar. They come to adore one who lies in a manger and yet reigns in heaven and on earth. When they tell of one who is born a king, Herod is disturbed. To save his kingdom he resolves to kill him, though if he would have faith in the child, he himself would reign in peace in this life and for ever in the life to come.
Why are you afraid, Herod, when you hear of the birth of a king? He does not come to drive you out but to conquer the devil. But because you do not understand this you are disturbed and in a rage and to destroy one child whom you seek, you show your cruelty in the death of so many children.
You are not restrained by the love of weeping mothers or fathers mourning the deaths of their sons, nor by the cries and sobs of the children. You destroy those who are tiny in body because fear is destroying your heart. You imagine that if you accomplish your desire you can prolong your own life, though you are seeking to kill Life Himself.
Yet your throne is threatened by the source of grace—so small, yet so great—who is lying in the manger. He is using you, all unaware of it, to work out His own purposes freeing souls from captivity to the devil. He has taken up the sons of the enemy into the ranks of God’s adopted children.
The children die for Christ, though they do not know it. The parents mourn for the death of martyrs. The child makes of those, as yet unable to speak, fit witnesses to Himself. See the kind of kingdom that is His, coming as He did in order to be this kind of King. See how the deliverer is already working deliverance, the saviour already working salvation.
But you, Herod, do not know this and are disturbed and furious. While you vent your fury against the child, you are already paying Him homage and do not know it.
How great a gift of grace is here! To what merits of their own, do the children owe this kind of victory? They cannot speak, yet they bear witness to Christ. They cannot use their limbs to engage in battle, yet already they bear off the palm of victory.
“And while he thus persecutes Christ,
he furnished an army of martyrs,
clothed in white robes,
of the same age as the Lord.”
Quote/s of the Day – 28 December – Feast of the Holy Innocents – 4th Day of the Christmas Octave
“We praise you, O God,
we acclaim you as Lord;
the white-robed army of martyrs praise you.”
“These then, whom Herod’s cruelty
tore as sucklings from their mothers’ bosom,
are justly hailed as “infant martyr flowers”;
they were the Church’s first blossoms,
matured by the frost of persecution
during the cold winter of unbelief.”
”The precious death of any martyr
deserves high praise
because of his heroic confession;
the death of these children
is precious in the sight of God
because of the beatitude
they gained so quickly.
For already, at the beginning
of their lives, they pass on.
The end of the present life
is for them the beginning of glory.”
“The star of Bethlehem
shines forth in the dark night of sin.
Upon the radiance
that goes forth from the manger,
there falls the shadow of the cross.
In the dark of Good Friday, the light is extinguished
but it rises more brightly, as the sun of grace.
on the morning of the resurrection.
The road of the incarnate Son of God,
is through the cross and suffering.
to the splendour of the resurrection.
To arrive with the Son of Man,
through suffering and death,
at this splendour of the resurrection,
is the road for each one of us,
for all mankind.”
Quotes of the Day – 14 December – The Memorial of St John of the Cross (1542-1591) Doctor of the Church
“If a man wishes to be sure of the road
he treads on, he must close his eyes
and walk in the dark.”
“The road is narrow.
He who wishes to travel it more easily
must cast off all things and use the cross as his cane.
In other words, he must be truly resolved
to suffer willingly for the love of God in all things.”
“Live in the world,
as if only God and your soul were in it,
then your heart will never be made captive,
by any earthly thing.” 
“We must dig deeply in Christ.
He is like a rich mine
with many pockets containing treasures –
however deep we dig,
we will never find their end or their limit.
Indeed, in every pocket new seams of fresh riches
are discovered on all sides.”
“At the end of your life,
you will be judged by your love.”
“Now that I no longer desire all,
I have it all, without desire.”
Thought for the Day – 7 December – The Memorial of St Ambrose (c 340-397)- Father and Doctor of the Church
“Holy Bishop Ambrose – about whom I shall speak to you today – died in Milan in the night between 3 and 4 April 397. It was dawn on Holy Saturday. The day before, at about five o’clock in the afternoon, he had settled down to pray, lying on his bed with his arms wide open in the form of a cross. Thus, he took part in the solemn Easter Triduum, in the death and Resurrection of the Lord. “We saw his lips moving”, said Paulinus, the faithful deacon who wrote his Life at St Augustine’s suggestion, “but we could not hear his voice”. The situation suddenly became dramatic. Honoratus, Bishop of Vercelli, who was assisting Ambrose and was sleeping on the upper floor, was awoken by a voice saying again and again, “Get up quickly! Ambrose is dying…”. “Honoratus hurried downstairs”, Paulinus continues, “and offered the Saint the Body of the Lord. As soon as he had received and swallowed it, Ambrose gave up his spirit, taking the good Viaticum with him. His soul, thus refreshed by the virtue of that food, now enjoys the company of Angels” (Life, 47).
On that Holy Friday 397, the wide open arms of the dying Ambrose expressed his mystical participation in the death and Resurrection of the Lord. This was his last catechesis – in the silence of the words, he continued to speak with the witness of his life.
Like the Apostle John, Bishop Ambrose – who never tired of saying: “Omnia Christus est nobis! To us Christ is all!” – continues to be a genuine witness of the Lord. Let us thus conclude our Catechesis with his same words, full of love for Jesus: “Omnia Christus est nobis! If you have a wound to heal, He is the doctor; if you are parched by fever, He is the spring; if you are oppressed by injustice, He is justice; if you are in need of help, He is strength; if you fear death, He is life; if you desire Heaven, He is the way; if you are in the darkness, He is light…. Taste and see how good is the Lord, blessed is the man who hopes in Him!” (De Virginitate, 16, 99). Let us also hope in Christ. We shall thus be blessed and shall live in peace.”
Pope Benedict – Excerpt, General Audience, Catechesis on St Ambrose, 24 October 2007
Thought for the Day – 2 December – Today’s Gospel: Luke 21:25-28, 34-36, The First Sunday of Advent, Year C
“Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.”...Luke 21:36
“I conceive it may be explained as follows:—Do you know the feeling in matters of this life, of expecting a friend, expecting him to come and he delays? Do you know what it is to be in unpleasant company and to wish for the time to pass away and the hour strike, when you may be at liberty? Do you know what it is to be in anxiety lest something should happen which may happen or may not, or to be in suspense about some important event, which makes your heart beat, when you are reminded of it and of which you think the first thing in the morning? Do you know what it is to have a friend in a distant country, to expect news of him and to wonder, from day to day, what he is now doing and whether he is well? Do you know what it is so to live upon a person who is present with you, that your eyes follow his, that you read his soul, that you see all its changes in his countenance, that you anticipate his wishes, that you smile in his smile and are sad in his sadness, and are downcast when he is vexed and rejoice in his successes? To watch for Christ is a feeling such as all these; as far as feelings of this world, are fit to shadow out, those of another.
He watches for Christ who has a sensitive, eager, apprehensive mind, who is awake, alive, quick-sighted, zealous in seeking and honouring Him; who looks out for Him in all that happens and who would not be surprised, who would not be over-agitated or overwhelmed, if he found that He was coming at once.
And he watches with Christ, who, while he looks on to the future, looks back on the past and does not so contemplate what his Saviour has purchased for him, as to forget what He has suffered for him. He watches with Christ, who ever commemorates and renews, in his own person, Christ’s Cross and Agony and gladly takes up that mantle of affliction which Christ wore here and left behind Him, when he ascended. And hence in the Epistles, often as the inspired writers show their desire for His second coming, as often, do they show, their memory of His first and never lose sight of His Crucifixion in His Resurrection. Thus if St Paul reminds the Romans that they “wait for the redemption of the body” at the Last Day, he also says, “If so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.” If he speaks to the Corinthians of “waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,” he also speaks of “always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.” If to the Philippians of “the power of His resurrection,” he adds at once “and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death.” If he consoles the Colossians with the hope “when Christ shall appear,” of their “appearing with Him in glory,” he has already declared that he “fills up that which remains of the afflictions of Christ in his flesh for His body’s sake, which is the Church.” [Rom. viii. 17-28. 1 Cor. i. 7. 2 Cor. iv. 10. Phil. iii. 10. Col. iii. 4; i. 24.]
Thus the thought of what Christ is, must not obliterate from the mind, the thought of what He was and faith is always sorrowing with Him, while it rejoices. And the same union of opposite thoughts is impressed on us in Holy Communion, in which we see Christ’s death and resurrection together, at one and the same time, we commemorate the one, we rejoice in the other; we make an offering and we gain a blessing. {325}
This then is to watch – to be detached from what is present and to live in what is unseen, to live in the thought of Christ as He came once and as He will come again, to desire His second coming, from our affectionate and grateful remembrance of His first. And this it is, in which we shall find that men in general are wanting. They are indeed without faith and love also but at least they profess to have these graces, nor is it easy to convince them that they have not. For they consider they have faith, if they do but own that the Bible came from God, or that they trust wholly in Christ for salvation and they consider they have love, if they obey some of the most obvious of God’s commandments. Love and faith they think they have but surely they do not even fancy that they watch.
What is meant by watching and how it is a duty, they have no definite idea and thus it accidentally happens that watching, is a suitable test of a Christian, in that it is that particular property of faith and love, which, essential as it is, men of this world do not even profess that particular property, which is the life or energy of faith and love, the way in which faith and love, if genuine, show themselves.
…Year passes after year silently Christ’s coming is ever nearer than it was. O that, as He comes nearer earth, we may approach nearer heaven! O, my brethren, pray Him to give you the heart to seek Him in sincerity. Pray Him to make you in earnest. You have one work only, to bear your cross after Him. Resolve in His strength to do so. Resolve to be no longer beguiled by “shadows of religion,” by words, or by disputings, or by notions, or by high professions, or by excuses, or by the world’s promises or threats. Pray Him to give you what Scripture calls “an honest and good heart,” or “a perfect heart” and, without waiting, begin at once to obey Him with the best heart you have. Any obedience is better than none—any profession which is disjoined from obedience, is a mere pretence and deceit. Any religion which does not bring you nearer to God is of the world.
You have to seek His face – obedience is the only way of seeking Him. All your duties are obediences. If you are to believe the truths He has revealed, to regulate yourselves by His precepts, to be frequent in His ordinances, to adhere to His Church and people, why is it, except because He has bid you? and to do what He bids is to obey Him and to obey Him is to approach Him. Every act of obedience is an approach,—an approach to Him who is not far off, though He seems so but close behind this visible screen of things, which hides Him from us. He is behind this material framework, earth and sky are but a veil, going between Him and us, the day will come when He will rend that veil and show Himself to us. And then, according as we have waited for Him, will He recompense us. If we have forgotten Him, He will not know us but “blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when He comes, shall find watching … He shall gird Himself and make them sit down to meat and will come forth and serve them. And if He shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch and find them so, blessed are those servants,” [Luke 12:37, 38.]
May this be the portion of every one of us!
It is hard to attain it but it is woeful to fail.
Life is short, death is certain and the world to come, is everlasting.”
Thought for the Day – 27 November – The Little Number of Those Who Are Saved by St Leonard of Port Maurice OFM (1676-1751)
“Conclusion”
Brothers, I want to send all of you away comforted today. So if you ask me my sentiment on the number of those who are saved, here it is: Whether there are many or few that are saved, I say that whoever wants to be saved, will be saved and that no one can be damned if he does not want to be. And if it is true that few are saved, it is because there are few who live well. As for the rest, compare these two opinions – the first one states that the greater number of Catholics are condemned, the second one, on the contrary, pretends that the greater number of Catholics are saved. Imagine an Angel sent by God to confirm the first opinion, coming to tell you that not only are most Catholics damned but that of all this assembly present here, one alone will be saved. If you obey the Commandments of God, if you detest the corruption of this world, if you embrace the Cross of Jesus Christ in a spirit of penance, you will be that one alone who is saved.
Now imagine the same Angel returning to you and confirming the second opinion. He tells you that not only are the greater portion of Catholics saved but that out of all this gathering, one alone will be damned and all the others saved. If after that, you continue your usuries, your vengeances, your criminal deeds, your impurities, then you will be that one alone who is damned.
What is the use of knowing whether few or many are saved? Saint Peter says to us, “Strive by good works to make your election sure.” When Saint Thomas Aquinas’s sister asked him what she must do to go to heaven, he said, “You will be saved if you want to be.” I say the same thing to you and here is proof of my declaration. No one is damned unless he commits mortal sin – that is of faith. And no one commits mortal sin unless he wants to – that is an undeniable theological proposition. Therefore, no one goes to hell, unless he wants to – the consequence is obvious. Does that not suffice to comfort you?
Weep over past sins, make a good confession, sin no more in the future and you will all be saved. Why torment yourself so? For it is certain, that you have to commit mortal sin to go to hell and that to commit mortal sin, you must want to and that consequently, no one goes to hell, unless he wants to. That is not just an opinion, it is an undeniable and very comforting truth – may God give you to understand it and may He bless you. Amen.”
The Little Number of Those Who Are Saved
by St Leonard of Port Maurice
Full Sermon here: https://www.olrl.org/snt_docs/fewness.shtml
Quote/s of the Day – 27 November – The Memorial of St Leonard of Port Maurice OFM (1676-1751)
“What graces, gifts and virtues
the Holy Mass calls down!”
“I believe that were it not for the Holy Mass,
as this moment, the world would be in the abyss,
unable to bear up under the mighty load of its iniquities.
Mass is the potent prop that hold the world on its base.”
“If the Lord, at the moment of my death,
reproves me for being too kind to sinners,
I will answer, ‘My dear Jesus, if it is a fault
to be too kind to sinners, it is a fault
I learned from You, for You never scolded anyone
who came to You seeking mercy.'”
“If you practice the holy exercise
of Spiritual Communion,
a good many times each day,
within a month,
you will see yourself completely changed.”
Act of Spiritual Communion
By St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) Doctor of the Church
My Jesus,
I believe that You art present
in the Blessed Sacrament.
I love You above all things
and I desire You in my soul.
Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally,
come at least, spiritually, into my heart.
As though You were already there,
I embrace You
and unite myself wholly to You,
permit not, that I should ever,
be separated from You.
Amen
One Minute Reflection – 27 November – Today’s Gospel: Luke 21:5–11, Tuesday of the Thirty Fourth week in Ordinary Time, Year B and the Memorial of St Leonard of Port Maurice OFM (1676-1751)
“As for these things which you see, the days will come when there shall not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” …Luke 21:6
REFLECTION – ” Indeed, if each one of us is faithful to the Lord, when our death comes, as shall we say what St Francis said: ‘sister death, come’. It will not frighten us. And even on the day of judgement, we will look to the Lord and we can say: ‘Lord I have many sins but I tried to be faithful.’ And since the Lord is good, we will not be afraid.”…Pope Francis – Santa Marta, 22 November 2016
PRAYER – True Light of the world, Lord Jesus Christ, as You enlighten all men for their salvation, give us grace, we pray, to herald Your coming, by preparing the ways of justice, love and peace. Grant us the assistance of the intercession of St Leonard of Port Maurice, who so diligently worked to bring Your good news to all. Let his example be an inspiration in our lives. Lord Jesus Christ who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, God, forever, amen.
One Minute Reflection – 24 November – Today’s Gospel: Luke 20:27–40 – Saturday of the Thirty Third Week in Ordinary Time, Year B – The Memorial of St Andrew Dung-Lac & Companions, Vietnam Martyrs
“Now he is not God of the dead but of the living; for all live to him.”...Luke 20:38
REFLECTION – “ Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one, we shall also bear the image of the earthly one. The first man was from the earth, earthly; the second man from heaven. ” If we thus act, beloved, then we shall nevermore die in time to come. Even though our bodies may decay, we shall be living in Christ as he himself affirmed: “Whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live.” We are assured, on the witness of our Lord Himself, that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all the saints are alive. For it was concerning them that our Lord said: “All are alive for him, for he is not God of the dead but of the living.” And the apostle Paul said, speaking of himself: “For me, life is Christ, death gain. I long to depart and be with Christ.” And again: “So long as we are in the body, we are away from the Lord . For indeed, we walk by faith, not by sight.” This is what we believe, my dearest brethren. Besides: “If we have placed our hope in this world only, we are the most pitiable people of all.”
Life in this world, as you yourselves can see, is just the same for animals, wild beasts, birds and ourselves and it can even be longer for them. But what is proper to humans is what Christ gives us through His Spirit, provided we sin no more – life without end…: “The wages of sin is death; the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”…St Pacian, Father of the Church (c 310–391) (Biblical references: 1Cor 15:49.47; Jn 11:25; Phil 1:21.23; 2Cor 5:6-7; 1Cor 15:19; Rm 6:23)
“It is not this life that will serve as a reference point for eternity, for the other life that awaits us; rather, it is eternity — that life — which illumines and gives hope to the earthly life of each one of us! If we look at things from only a human perspective, we tend to say that man’s journey moves from life to death. This is what we see! But this is only so if we look at things from a human perspective. Jesus turns this perspective upside down and states that our pilgrimage goes from death to life – the fullness of life!” …Pope Francis – Angelus, 10 November 2013
PRAYER – O God, source and origin of all fatherhood, who kept the Martyrs Saint Andrew Dung-Lac and his companions faithful to the Cross of Your Son, even to the shedding of their blood, grant, through their intercession, that, spreading Your love among our brothers and sisters, we may be Your children both in name and in truth and thus come to our resurrection with Jesus Christ, Your Son. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Quote/s of the Day – 16 November – The Memorial of St Gertrude the Great (1256-1302)
“My dear friends, do not be taken aback
at the testing by fire, which is taking place among you,
as though something strange, were happening to you
but insofar as you share in the sufferings of Christ,
be glad, so that you may enjoy
a much greater gladness, when his glory is revealed”
“Bodily and spiritual affliction
are the surest sign of Divine predilection.
Gratitude for suffering is a precious jewel
for our heavenly crown…
Man should always firmly believe that God
sends just that trial which is most beneficial for him.”
“Every time, we look
at the Blessed Sacrament,
our place in heaven,
is raised forever.”
“I understand that,
each time we contemplate,
with desire and devotion,
the Host in which is hidden
Christ’s Eucharistic Body,
we increase our merits in heaven
and secure special joys to be ours,
later in the beatific vision of God.”
“Angels constantly guard,
the clients of the Blessed Virgin,
from the assaults of Hell.”
One Minute Reflection – 16 November – Today’s Gospel: Luke 17:26–37, Friday of the Thirty Second week in Ordinary Time, Year B and the memorial of St Margaret of Scotland (1045-1093) and St Gertrude the Great (1256-1302).
“Whoever seeks to gain his life, will lose it but whoever loses his life, will preserve it. I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other left.”…Luke 17:33-34
REFLECTION – “Today the Church, the Lord, with His goodness, tells each one of us, ‘Stop, stop, not every day will be so. Do not get used to this as if it were eternity. There will be one day that you will be taken, while the other one will remain, you will be taken, you will be removed.’ It means going with the Lord, thinking that our life will end.”…Pope Francis Santa Marta, 17 November 2017
“So you see, my brothers, that we have been given every inducement, to amend our lives. We have been called by God and now it is up to us to return to Him, while we still have time to One, who is ready to receive us. For if we renounce sinful pleasures and practice self-control, by refusing to yield to our evil desires, we shall share in the mercy of Jesus.
You must know, however, that the day of judgement, like a flaming furnace, is already approaching. Sun, moon and stars will be consumed and the whole earth will become like lead melting in the fire. All that each man has done, whether openly or in secret, will then be brought to light. Therefore, a very good way of atoning for our sins is by being generous to the poor. Fasting is better than prayer but almsgiving surpasses both, for love covers a multitude of sins. Nevertheless, prayer delivers the soul from death, if it proceeds from a good conscience. Happy the man who is found rich in these virtues; by relieving the poor, he himself will be relieved of his sins.
To make sure that none of us is lost, we must repent from the bottom of our hearts.”…Anonymous author, second century, An Ancient Christian Writer – An excerpt from A Homily
PRAYER – Lord God, grant to us that the power of Your protecting hand may keep us unshaken in the face of our ancient enemy and all his hidden snares. Lighten our way so that, through the prayers of intercession of St Gertrude and St Margaret of Scotland, we may experience the joy of Your presence in our hearts and courage at times of suffering. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, one God for all eternity, amen.
AnaStpaul 
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