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Thought for the Day – 20 December – The Dangers of the Careless Soul

Thought for the Day – 20 December – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

Meditations for Advent
From “The Devout Year”
By Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

The Dangers of the Careless Soul

+I. There is in human nature a fatal tendency to procrastinate, especially when that which we know we ought to do, is something to which we are naturally disinclined.
All men are naturally disinclined to do violence to themselves and force their pride and self-will, to yield before the sway of Christ, to put on His yoke and carry His cross.
Hence, men put off and make excuses to themselves and fancy that what is difficult to them to-day, will be easy to morrow .
O fatal mistake!
Each day that we postpone the task of submission, it becomes
more difficult, more distasteful.
Why then do I not hasten to submit myself entirely to Christ?

+2. From day-to-day, the careless soul thus goes on putting off, crying: “Tomorrow I will amend my ways” and when tomorrow comes, it still cries: “Tomorrow.” How fatal is this folly!
Tomorrow may never come, or, if it comes, you may have forfeited the grace!
Today, if ye will hear His Voice, harden not your hearts.

+3. This postponement is always accompanied by some deliberate disobedience to the commands or to the holy inspirations of the Spirit of God.
Thus the careless soul becomes more engrossed in earthly things and more and more disinclined to make the necessary effort. Therefore, it is that, so many will be surprised by the Coming of their Judge at the moment when they least expect Him and are quite unprepared to meet Him.
O Jesus, save me at any cost from the deadly state of the careless soul!

Posted in DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, DOCTORS of the Church, DOMINICAN OP, FATHERS of the Church, franciscan OFM, GOD ALONE!, OUR Cross, Quote on SELF-ABANDONMENT, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, St Francis de Sales, The HOLY CROSS, The MOST HOLY REDEEMER, Our SAVIOUR, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 16 December – ‘ … Give your attention to true abandonment … ‘

Quote/s of the Day – 16 December – 2 Corinthians 1:3-7; Matthew 16:24-27 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

For he who will save his life, will lose it
and he who will lose his life
for My sake, will find it.

Matthew 16:25

He who findeth his life, shall lose it
and he, who shall lose his life for Me,
shall find it
. ”
Matthew 10:39

My dear child, accept this cross from God and bear it –
it will turn into a truly lovable cross,
if you would hand these trials over to God,
accept them from Him with true abandonment
and thank God for them:
“My soul magnifies the Lord”
in everything (cf Lk 1:46).
Whether God takes or gives, the Son of Man
must be raised up on the Cross …
Dear child, leave all that behind;
rather, give your attention to true abandonment …
and think about accepting to bear
the cross of temptation, rather than going
in search of spiritual sweetness …
Our Lord has said: “If anyone wishes to come after Me,
let him take up his cross and follow Me”
(Lk 9:23).”

Fr JohannesTauler OP (c1300-1361)
Dominican Priest and Friar,
renowned Preacher and Theologian

Since happiness is nothing else
than the enjoyment of the Supreme Good
and the Supreme Good is above us,
no-one can enjoy happiness,
unless he rises above himself.

St Bonaventure (1221-1274)
Seraphic Doctor of the Church

My soul, live henceforward
amid the scourges and the thorns
of thy Saviour and there,
as a nightingale in its bush, sing sweetly:
Live Jesus, Who didst die
that my soul might live!
Ah, Eternal Father!
What can the world return Thee
for the gift Thou hast made it of Thy only Son?
Alas! to redeem a thing so vile as I,
the Saviour delivered Himself to death
and, unhappy me!
I hesitate to surrender my nothingness to Him,
Who has given me everything!

St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor Caritas

Posted in ADVENT REFLECTIONS, Meditations for ADVENT, Quote on SELF-ABANDONMENT, QUOTES on Love of Self, QUOTES on OBEDIENCE, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, The WILL of GOD

Thought for the Day – 15 December – Rejoice Always!

Thought for the Day – 15 December – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

Meditations for Advent
From “The Devout Year”
By Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

Rejoice Always!

+1. St Paul goes beyond the mere command to rejoice and to rejoice in the Lord; he bids us to rejoice always! Is this possible? Yes, it is quite possible. If it were not, the Apostle would not have imposed it upon us.
It is not easy because, our self-love and our selfishness destroy
joy. But the Saints, who had driven self-love out of their hearts, found it a pleasant and an easy task, to be always joyful. If we desire the same, we must do our best to rid ourselves of this hindrance to our joy.

+2. How are we to accomplish this task?
It must be a gradual one. It is to be arrived at by many acts of submission to the Will of God and to the will of others, when opposed to our own and the submission, must have for its motive, not the intellectual conviction that what we ourselves desire is in itself inferior but, the determination to submit, for the sake of submission and, as an act of reverence to God. We must be willing to submit, both will and intellect, to those set over us, without complaining or questioning their command. Do I do so?

+3. When this painful process is over and when, at length we begin to learn the happiness of giving up our own will to the will of others we soon begin to receive the reward of our self-conquest.
We acquire, by degrees, an undisturbed calm of soul and an increasing strength of will, as the fruits of our victory over self and, above all, a happy consciousness that we have been learning the lesson of conforming our will to the Will of God, in which the happiness of Heaven consists.

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, I BELIEVE!, ONE Minute REFLECTION, Quote on SELF-ABANDONMENT, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on GREED, WEALTH, QUOTES on THE WORLD, QUOTES on TRUTH, The KINGDOM of GOD / HEAVEN, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 2 December – The Treasure and The Pearl

One Minute Reflection – 2 December – “The Month of the Divine Infancy and the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary” – St Bibiana (Died c 361) Virgin Martyr – Sirach 51:13-17; Matthew 13:44-52 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

Jesus said in parables: The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a treasure, hidden in a field. … Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a merchant seeking good pearls. ”- Matthew 13:44 and 45

REFLECTION – “The two parables of the treasure and the pearl, both teach us the same thing – we should prefer the Gospel before all earthly treasures. … However, there is something even more praiseworthy than this – we should delight to give it preference, joyfully, unhesitatingly. Let us never forget this, to abandon all else, so as to follow God, is to gain more, than one loses. The preaching of the Gospel is hidden in this world like a hidden treasure, a treasure without price.

To gain this treasure … two conditions are required – the forsaking of this world’s goods and a firm determination. For, it is a question “of a merchant searching for fine pearlswhen he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.” This one pearl is Truth and Truth is One, it is not divided. Do you possess a pearl? Then you know your wealth, it is clenched in the palm of your hand, no-one is aware of your fortune.

So it is with the Gospel, if you embrace it with faith, if it remains enclosed in your heart, what a treasure you have You alone know it is there. Unbelievers, who know neither what it is, nor what value it has, have no idea of your incredible wealth!” – St John Chrysostom (347-407) Bishop of Constantinople, Father and Doctor of the Church (Homilies on Saint Matthew’s Gospel No 47:2).

PRAYER – O God, giver of all good gifts, Thou Who in Thy servant, Bibiana, joined the flower of virginity with the palm of Martyrdom, by her intercession unite our hearts to Thee in charity, so that, saved from all dangers, we may obtain the rewards of eternal life. Through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in FATHERS of the Church, LOVE of NEIGHBOUR, OUR Cross, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, Quote on SELF-ABANDONMENT, QUOTES on HEAVEN, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, The FAITHFUL on PILGRIMAGE, The GOOD SHEPHERD, The HOLY CROSS, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 29 November – ‘ … By the Cross, we put on Christ and cast aside our former self. … ‘

Quote/s of the Day – 29 November – Quote/s of the Day – 29 November – Vigil of the Feast of St Andrew – Romans 13:11-14, Luke 21:25-33 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

Let us walk becomingly, as in the day,
not in revelry and drunkenness,
not in debauchery and wantonness,
not in strife and jealousy.
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 13:13-14

And bearing His own Cross,
He went forth to the place which is called Calvary
but in Hebrew Golgotha.

John 19:17

“That is why all the faithful who love God
and their neighbour, truly drink the Cup
of the Lord’s Love even though,
they may not drink the cup of His Bodily Suffering.
And becoming inebriated from it,
they put to death, whatever in their nature
is rooted in earth.
They clothe themselves with the Lord Jesus Christ
and do not indulge fleshly desires.
They do not fix their gaze on visible things
but contemplate things, which the eye cannot see.
Thus they drink the Lord’s Cup
by preserving the holy bond of love –
without it, even if a man should deliver his body
to be burned, he gains nothing.
But the gift of love enables us to become,
in reality, what we celebrate
as Mystery in the Sacrifice.

St Fulgentius of Ruspe (c462–533)
Bishop, Father

By the Cross, death was slain
and Adam was restored to life.
The Cross is the glory of all the Apostles,
the Crown of the Martyrs,
the Sanctification of the Saints.
By the Cross, we put on Christ
and cast aside our former self.
By the Cross we, the sheep of Christ,
have been gathered into one flock,
destined for the Sheepfold of Heaven.

St Theodore the Studite (759-826)

“… How can anyone put on Jesus Christ
and imitate His example,
if he does not study this Jesus,
Who must inspire and perfect our faith?
He must run the race to which he is challenged,
the glorious race in which,
he overcomes the enemy of the human family
and follows the Way of the Cross.
Under the lordly banner of that Cross,
he will attain eternal life.

St Vincent Strambi CP (1745-1824)