Quote of the Day – 16 August – Friday of the Nineteenth week in Ordinary Time, Year C and The Memorial of St Stephen of Hungary (c 975- 1038)
“We are ever but beginning,
the most perfect Christian,
is to himself but a beginner,
a penitent prodigal
who has squandered God’s gifts
and comes to Him,
to be tried over again,
not as a son
but as a hired servant.”
Quote/s of the Day – 14 August – The Memorial of St Maximillian Kolbe OFM Conv (1894 -1941) “Martyr of Charity”
“A man cannot rise any higher than this.
The Immaculate is the highest degree
of perfection and sanctity of a creature.
No man will ever attain this celestial summit of grace,
for the Mother of God is unique.
However, he who gives himself without limits,
to the Immaculate, will in a short time,
attain a very high degree of perfection
and procure for God, a very great glory.”
“We do not limit ourselves in love.
We want to love the Lord Jesus,
with her heart,
or rather, that she would love the Lord,
with our heart.”
“Let us not forget,
that Jesus not only suffered
but also rose in glory;
so, too, we go to the glory
of the Resurrection,
by way of suffering
and the Cross.”
“The most deadly poison of our times is indifference.
And this happens, although the praise of God
should know no limits.
Let us strive, therefore, to praise Him
to the greatest extent of our powers!”
“Be a Catholic!
When you kneel before an altar,
do it in such a way that others
may be able to recognise
that you know before Whom you kneel.”
One Minute Reflection – 1 August – Thursday of the Seventeenth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Matthew 13:47–53 and the Memorial of St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) Doctor of the Church
“Thus it will be at the end of the age.
The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.” … Matthew 13:49-50
REFLECTION – “St Augustine and St Thomas define mortal sin to be a turning away from God – that is, the turning of one’s back upon God, leaving the Creator for the sake of the creature.
What punishment would that subject deserve who, while his king was giving him a command, contemptuously turned his back upon him to go and transgress his orders?
This is what the sinner does and this is punished in hell with the pain of loss,
that is, the loss of God, a punishment richly deserved by him who in this life turns his back upon his sovereign good.” … St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) Doctor of the Church
PRAYER – Almighty God and Father, grant us this day the grace to live in Your light and follow your precepts. Desert us not in our temptations but grant us Your strength against the power of the evil one. May our deeds be ever true to Your commandments and our thoughts pleasing in Your sight. May the pattern and prayers of St Alphonsus be an inspiration on our way. Through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God for all eternity, amen.
Sunday Reflection – 19 May – The Fifth Sunday of Easter, C
O my God, holiness becomes Your House and yet You make Your abode in my breast. My Lord, my Saviour, to me You come, hidden under the semblance of earthly things, yet in that very flesh and blood which You took from Mary. You, who did first inhabit Mary’s breast, come to me.
My God, You see me; I cannot see myself. Were I ever so good a judge about myself, ever so unbiased and with ever so correct a rule of judging, still, from my very nature, I cannot look at myself and view myself truly and wholly. But You, as You come to me, contemplate me.
When I say, Domine, non sum dignus—”Lord, I am not worthy”—You whom I am addressing, alone understands in their fullness the words which I use. You see how unworthy so great a sinner is to receive the One Holy God, whom the Seraphim adore with trembling. You see, not only the stains and scars of past sins but the mutilations, the deep cavities, the chronic disorders which they have left in my soul. You see the innumerable living sins, though they be not mortal, living in their power and presence, their guilt and their penalties, which clothe me. You see all my bad habits, all my mean principles, all wayward lawless thoughts, my multitude of infirmities and miseries, yet You come. You see most perfectly how little I really feel what I am now saying, yet You come.
O my God, left to myself should I not perish under the awful splendour and the consuming fire of Your Majesty. Enable me to bear You, lest I have to say with Peter, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”
Thought for the Day – 13 May – Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter, C – Gospel: John 10:1-10
A Pastor’s Prayer to the Good Shepherd
St John Damascene (675-749)
Monk, Theologian, Doctor of the Church
O Christ, my God, You stooped down to me, poor straying sheep, to take me on Your shoulders (Lk 15:5) and have set me down in green pastures (Ps 23[22]:2). You have quenched my thirst at the springs of true doctrine, through the mediation of Your pastors, whose shepherd You were, before entrusting to them Your flock… And now, O Lord, You have called me… to serve Your disciples, by what design of Your Providence I know not, only You know.
But, Lord, lighten the heavy burden of those sins of mine that have so gravely offended You, purify my mind and heart. Lead me by the right way (Ps 23[22]:3) as by a light enlightening me. Enable me to proclaim Your word boldly, may Your Spirit’s tongue of flame (Acts 2:3) give perfect freedom to my tongue and make me constantly attentive to Your presence.
Be a shepherd to me, O Lord and together with me, be the shepherd of Your sheep, that my heart may not cause me to swerve either to right or to left. Let Your good Spirit lead me in the right way, that my actions may be carried out, according to Your will – even to the end.”
Amen
Quote of the Day – 27 April – Saturday of Easter week
“The life of each and every one of us has been written.
The crucifix is my autobiography.
The blood is the ink.
The nails the pen.
The skin the parchment.
On every line of that body, I can trace my life.
In the crown of thorns I can read my pride.
In the hands that are dug with nails,
I can read avarice and greed.
In the flesh hanging from him like purple rags,
I can read my lust.
In feet that are fettered, I can find the times
that I ran away and would not let Him follow.
Any sin that you can think of is written there.”
The Stations of the Cross – 18 April – Maundy Thursday
Begin with an Act of Contrition
Forgive my sins, O my God,
forgive my sins –
the sins of youth,
the sins of age,
the sins of my soul
and the sins of my body,
the sins which, through frailty,
I have committed,
my deliberate and grievous sins,
the sins I know
and the sins I do not know,
the sins I have laboured so long
to hide from others,
that now they are hidden
from my own memory;
let me be absolved
from all these iniquities
and delivered from
the bond of all these evils,
by the Life, Passion and Death
of my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Amen
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam Crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
V. We adore You, O Christ and we bless You.
R. Because by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world.
JESUS had now reached almost to the top of Calvary but, before He had gained the very spot where He was to be crucified, again He fell and is again dragged up and goaded onwards by the brutal soldiery.
We are told in Holy Scripture of three falls of Satan, the Evil Spirit. The first was in the beginning; the second, when the Gospel and the Kingdom of Heaven were preached to the world, the third will be at the end of all things. The first is told us by St John the Evangelist. He says: “There was a great battle in heaven. Michael and his Angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon fought, and his angels. And they prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven. And that great dragon was cast out, the old serpent, who is called the devil and Satan.” The second fall, at the time of the Gospel, is spoken of by our Lord when He says, “I saw Satan, like lightning, falling from heaven.” And the third by the same St John: “There came down fire from God out of heaven, … and the devil … was cast into the pool of fire and brimstone.”
These three falls—the past, the present and the future—the Evil Spirit had in mind when he moved Judas to betray our Lord. This was just his hour. Our Lord, when He was seized, said to His enemies, “This is your hour and the power of darkness.” Satan knew his time was short and thought he might use it to good effect. But little dreaming that he would be acting in behalf of the world’s redemption, which our Lord’s passion and death were to work out, in revenge and, as he thought, in triumph, he smote Him once, he smote Him twice, he smote Him thrice, each successive time a heavier blow. The weight of the Cross, the barbarity of the soldiers and the crowd, were but his instruments. O Jesus, the only-begotten Son of God, the Word Incarnate, we praise, adore and love You for Your ineffable condescension, even to allow TYourself, thus for a time, to fall into the hands and under the power of the Enemy of God and man, in order thereby, to save us, from being his servants and companions for eternity.
Or this
This is the worst fall of the three. His strength has for a while utterly failed Him and it is some time before the barbarous soldiers can bring Him to. Ah! it was His anticipation of what was to happen to me. I get worse and worse. He sees the end from the beginning. He was thinking of me all the time He dragged Himself along, up the Hill of Calvary. He saw, that I should fall again in spite of all former warnings and former assistance. He saw, that I should become secure and self-confident and that my enemy would then assail me with some new temptation, to which I never thought I should be exposed. I thought my weakness lay all on one particular side which I knew. I had not a dream that I was not strong on the other. And so, Satan came down on my unguarded side and got the better of me, from my self-trust and self-satisfaction. I was wanting in humility. I thought no harm would come on me, I thought I had outlived the danger of sinning, I thought it was an easy thing to get to heaven and I was not watchful . It was my pride and so I fell a third time.
V. Have mercy on us, O Lord.
R. Have mercy on us.
I love You, Lord Jesus,
my love above all things,
I repent with my whole heart
for having offended You.
Never permit me to separate myself
from You again grant that I
may love always
and then do with me what You will.
(St Alphonsus Liguori)
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
