Posted in franciscan OFM, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on FORGIVENESS, QUOTES on GRATITUDE, QUOTES on HOPE, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SIN, SAINT of the DAY

Quote/s of the Day – 30 June – The Memorial of Blessed Raymond Lull T.O.S.F. (c 1232 – c1315) Martyr

Quote/s of the Day – 30 June – The Memorial of Blessed Raymond Lull T.O.S.F. (c 1232 – c1315) Martyr

“The Beloved created
and the Lover destroyed.
The Beloved judged
and the Lover wept.
Then the Beloved redeemed him
and the Lover again had glory.
The Beloved finished His work
and the Lover remained forever,
in his Beloved’s companionship.”the Beloved created - bl raymond lull - 30 june 2018

“Death has no terrors
for a sincere servant of Christ,
who is labouring to bring souls
to a knowledge of the truth.”

Bl Raymond Lull (c 1232 – c1315)death has no terrors - bl raymond lull - 30 june 2018

Posted in franciscan OFM, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on EVANGELISATION, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on TEMPTATION, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, QUOTES on the DEVIL/EVIL, SAINT of the DAY

Quote/s of the Day – 13 June – The Memorial of St Anthony of Padua (1195-1231) Doctor of the Church

Quote/s of the Day – 13 June – The Memorial of St Anthony of Padua (1195-1231) Doctor of the Church

“He who is the beginning and the end,
the ruler of the angels,
made Himself obedient to human creatures.
The creator of the heavens obeys a carpenter;
the God of eternal glory listens to a poor virgin.
Has anyone ever witnessed anything comparable to this?
Let the philosopher no longer disdain from listening
to the common labourer;
the wise, to the simple;
the educated, to the illiterate;
a child of a prince, to a peasant.”he-who-is-the-beginning-and-the-end-st-anthony-of-padua-13 june 2017

“Christians must lean on the Cross of Christ
just as travelers lean on a staff
when they begin a long journey.”christians-must-lean-st-anthony-of-padua-13 june 2017

“Earthly riches are like the reed.
Its roots are sunk in the swamp
and its exterior is fair to behold –
but inside it is hollow.
If a man leans on such a reed,
it will snap off and pierce his soul.”earthly-riches-are-like-the-reed-st-anthony-of-padua-13 june 2017

“The devil is afraid of us
when we pray and make sacrifices.
He is also afraid when we are humble and good.
He is especially afraid when we love Jesus very much.
He runs away when we make the Sign of the Cross.”the devil is afraid of us - st anthony of padua - 13 june 2018

“Actions speak louder than words;
let your words teach
and your actions speak.”

“The life of the body is the soul;
the life of the soul is God.”

“Charity is the soul of faith,
makes it alive;
without love, faith dies.”actions speak louder, charity is the soul of faith, the life of the body is the soul - st anthony of padua - 13 june 2018

“Damned money!
Alas! …
Money is the ‘droppings of birds’
that blinded the eyes of Tobit.”

St Anthony of Padua (1195-1231) Doctor of the Churchdamned money! - st anthony of padua - 13 june 2018

Posted in FATHERS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on OBEDIENCE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on the CHURCH, QUOTES on the DEVIL/EVIL, QUOTES on TRUTH, SAINT of the DAY, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS

Quote/s of the Day- 1 June – The Memorial of St Justin Martyr (c 100-165) Father of the Church

Quote/s of the Day- 1 June – The Memorial of St Justin Martyr (c 100-165)

Father of the Church

“We used to hate and destroy one another
and refused, to associate with people
of another race or country.
Now, because of Christ, we live together
with such people and pray for our enemies ”

“Let it be understood,
that those who are not found living
as He taught,
are NOT Christian- even though they profess
with the lips, the teaching of Christ.”we used to hate one another - let it be understood that those - st justin martyr - 1 june 2018

“Not as common bread
or as common drink,
do we receive these…..
We have been taught,
that the food,
that has been Eucharistised,
by the word of prayer,
that food, which by assimilation,
nourishes our flesh and blood,
is the flesh and blood
of the incarnate Jesus.”not-as-common-bread-st-justin-martyr-1-june-2018.jpg

“The world suffers nothing from Christians
but hates them, because they reject its pleasures.”the world suffers nothing from Christians - 1 june 2018.jpg

“You can kill us
but you cannot do us
any real harm.”you can kill us - st justin martyr - 1 june 2018

“We have strayed from the Immortal’s ways
and worship with a dull and senseless mind, Idols,
the workmanship of our own hands!”

St Justin Martyr (c 100-165) Father of the Churchwe-have-strayed-st-justin-martyr-1-june-2018.jpg

Posted in CATECHESIS, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on DIVINE PROVIDENCE, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on the DEVIL/EVIL, QUOTES on TRUST and complete CONFIDENCE in GOD, QUOTES on TRUTH, SPEAKING of .....

Quote/s of the Day – 3 May – Thursday of the Fifth Week of Eastertide and the Feast of Sts Philip and James Apostles and Martyrs

Quote/s of the Day – 3 May – Thursday of the Fifth Week of Eastertide and the Feast of Sts Philip and James Apostles and Martyrs

Speaking of:  Seeking Augustine

A Christian is:
a mind through which Christ thinks,
a heart through which Christ loves,
a voice through which Christ speaks
and a hand through which Christ helps.a christian is - st augustine - 3 may 2018

Since love grows within you,
so beauty grows.
For love is the beauty of the soul.since love grows within you - st augustine - 3 may 2018

Remember this.
When people choose to withdraw far from a fire,
the fire continues to give warmth
but they grow cold.
When people choose to withdraw far from light,
the light continues to be bright in itself
but they are in darkness.
This is also the case when people withdraw from God.remember this - st augustine - 3 may 2018

He who denies the existence of God,
has some reason for wishing
that God did not existhe who denies - st augustine - 3 may 2018

It is no advantage
to be near the light,
if the eyes are closed.it is no advantage - st augustine - 3 may 2018

Faith is to believe
what you do not see.
The reward of this faith,
is to see what you believe.faith is to believe what you do not see - st augustine - 3 may 2018

God provides the wind,
man must raise the sail.god provides the wind man must raise the sail - st augustine - 3 may 2018

God is always trying to give good things to us
but our hands are too full to receive them.

St Augustine (354-430) Father and Doctor of Gracegod is always trying - st augustine - 3 may 2018

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES - J R R Tolkien and MORE, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, QUOTES on the DEVIL/EVIL, SPEAKING of ....., The PASSION

Quote/s of the Day – 27 April – Friday of the Fourth Week of Eastertide “Speaking of: Sin and Suffering”

Quote/s of the Day – 27 April – Friday of the Fourth Week of Eastertide

“Speaking of:  Sin and Suffering”

“The dragon, sits by the side of the road,
watching those who pass.
Beware lest he devour you.
We go to the Father of Souls
but it is necessary,
to pass by the dragon.”

St Cyril of Jerusalem (315-387) Father & Doctor of the Churchthe dragon sits by the side - st cyril of jerusalem - 27 april 2018

“Only those who do not fight
are never wounded.”

St John Chrysostom (347-407) Father & Doctor of the Church

only those who do not fight - st john chrysostom - 27 april 2018

“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.”

Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)the life of each and every one of us - ven fulton sheen - 27 april 2018

“My key to heaven
is that I loved Jesus
in the night.”

St Mother Teresa (1910-1997)my key to heaven = st mother teresa - 27 april 2018

“Don’t waste your suffering.”

St John Paul the Great (1920-2005)don't waste your suffering - st john paul - 27 april 2018

Posted in EASTER, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on MERCY, QUOTES on PRAYER, QUOTES on SILENCE, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on SUFFERING, SAINT of the DAY

Thought for the Day – 26 April – Thursday of the Fourth Week of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Rafael Arnáiz Barón (1911-1938)

Thought for the Day – 26 April – Thursday of the Fourth Week of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Rafael Arnáiz Barón (1911-1938)

“This humble worship that surely is more pleasing to God than many deeds that the world calls charity. . . How much greater in God’s eyes is a heartfelt ‘Hail Mary’ than even the greatest thing done without wholehearted love for God.”

Rafael had only four more years to live.   A few months after entering the monastery, he was diagnosed with a virulent form of diabetes.   The illness brought with it melancholy and perplexity.   Three times the novice’s superiors sent him home to rest and recover his strength.   Drafted into the Nationalist Army at the very height of the Spanish Civil War, Rafael was declared unfit for active duty.   Returning to the monastery for the last time, he was received as a regular oblate, that is, a man living within the cloister without vows and following a personal rule of life approved by the abbot.   Regular oblates were, at that time, somewhat marginalised in monastic communities.   Their peculiar status — monks living without vows and without the security that comes from having made profession — was not without its own challenges.   Rafael entered fully into the vocation of the oblate, understanding that the oblate is destined for the altar, that is, for sacrifice.

St Rafael, in spite of the brevity and discontinuity of his monastic experience, lived it fully.   He remained faithful in the face of bewildering contradictions, uncertainties and apparent failure.   He found the Will of God in weakness, in illness, in war, in the inability to make monastic profession and in the sufferings inherent in community life.

Brother Rafael Maria was humble because he accepted one humiliation after another without ever despairing of the mercy of God.   He died stripped of everything, without having fulfilled even the legitimate human aspirations that so appealed to him. Configured to the poor and crucified Jesus, he died in the splendour of the Resurrection on 26 April 1938 at the age of 27.

St Pope John Paul II proclaimed Rafael a model for today’s youth but for me, he is a model for us all on how to learn to love suffering, how to learn to love the Cross of Christ and thus suffering in our own crosses in total abandonment to Divine Providence.

“The whole community is gathered in adoration
to ask the Lord for peace,
to pray for those who are dying and to make reparation for so many sins . . .
But one mustn’t spread discouragement. . . .
When we ask for mercy and pardon, we are doing as David did . . .
that is, the Lord will blot out all our sins and those of the whole world,
not by any poor merits of ours
but by the multitude and the greatness of His mercy.”

Saint Rafael Arnáiz Barón, Pray for us!st rafael arnaiz baron - pray for us no 2- 26 april 2018

Posted in EUCHARISTIC Adoration, MORNING Prayers, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SIN, SAINT of the DAY, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS

Quote/s of the Day – 24 April – Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Mary Euphrasia Pelletier (1796-1868)

Quote/s of the Day – 24 April – Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Mary Euphrasia Pelletier (1796-1868)

“Draw near to our Lord, thoroughly aware
of you own nothingness and you may hope
all things from His Goodness and Mercy.
Never forget that Jesus Christ is no less generous
in the Blessed Sacrament than He was
during His mortal life on earth.”draw near to our lord - st mary euphrasia - 24 april 2018

“The Blessed Sacrament is the first
and supreme object of our worship.
We must preserve, in the depths of our hearts,
a constant and uninterrupted, profound adoration,
of this precious pledge, of Divine Love.”we must preserve - st mary euphrasia - 24 april 2018

“To speak of the Blessed Sacrament,
is to speak of what is most sacred.
How often, when we are in a state of distress,
those to whom we look for help leave us;
or what is worse, add to our affliction
by heaping fresh troubles upon us.
He is ever there waiting to help us.”to speak of the blessed sacrament - st mary euphrasia- no 2- 24 april 2018

“May your heart be an altar,
from which the bright flame,
of unending thanksgiving
ascends to heaven.”may your heart be an altar - st mary euphrasia - 24 april 2018

“It is human to fall
but angelic to rise again.”

“One person is of more value
than the whole world.”

“Do well ALL that you do!”it is human...one person is more value ...do well all - st mary euphrasia pelletier - 24 april 2018

St Mary Euphrasia Pelletier (1796-1868)

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, EUCHARISTIC Adoration, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on MERCY, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on SIN, SAINT of the DAY, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS

Quote/s of the Day – 21 April – Saturday of the Third Week of Eastertide, the Memorial of St Anselm (1033-1109) Doctor of the Church and of St Conrad of Parzham OFM Cap. (1818-1894)

Quote/s of the Day – 21 April – Saturday of the Third Week of Eastertide, the Memorial of St Anselm (1033-1109) Doctor of the Church and of St Conrad of Parzham OFM Cap. (1818-1894)

“Remove grace
and you have nothing
whereby to be saved.
Remove free will
and you have nothing
that could be saved.”remove-grace-st-anselm.21 april 2017

“God has promised pardon
to him that repents
but he has not promised repentance
to him that sins.”

St Anselm (1033-1109) Doctor of the Churchst-anslem-god-has-promised-pardon.-21 april 2017

Prayer of Adoration and Repentance/Night Prayer
By St Conrad of Parzham (1818-1894)

I have come to spend
a few moments with You, O Jesus
and in spirit I prostrate myself in the dust
before Your Holy Tabernacle to adore You,
my Lord and God, in deepest humility.
Once more, a day has come to its close, dear Jesus,
another day which brings me nearer to the grave
and my beloved heavenly home.
Once more, O Jesus, my heart longs for You,
the true Bread of Life, which contains
all sweetness and relish.
O my Jesus,
mercifully grant me pardon for the faults
and ingratitude of this day
and come to me,
to refresh my poor heart which longs for You.
As the heart pants for the waters,
as the parched earth longs for the dew of heaven,
even so does my poor heart long for You,
You Fount of Life.
I love You, O Jesus,
I hope in You,
I love You
and out of love for You,
I regret sincerely all my sins.
May Your peace and Your benediction be mine,
now and always and for all eternity.
Amen

St Conrad of Parzham (1818-1894)prayer of adoration - i have come to spend - st conrad of parzham - 21 april 2018

 

Posted in HOLY WEEK, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on SIN, The HOLY CROSS, The HOLY FACE, The PASSION

Thought for the Day – 30 March 2018 – Good Friday of the Passion of the Lord “Behold the Man” By Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890)

Thought for the Day – 30 March 2018 – Good Friday of the Passion of the Lord

“Behold the Man”

Part two
By Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890)

“I see the figure of a man, whether young or old I cannot tell.   He may be fifty, or he may be thirty. …..CONTINUED HERE – 20 February 2018, Tuesday of the First Week of Lent) https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/02/20/thought-for-the-day-20-february-2018-tuesday-of-the-first-week-of-lent/a-hand-was-lifted-up-against-the-face-of-christ-john-henry-newman-20-feb-2018

Continued:

“O injured Lord, what can I say?   I am very guilty concerning You, my brother;  and I shall sink in sullen despair if You do not raise me.   I cannot look on You;  I shrink from You;  I throw my arms round my face;  I crouch to the earth.   Satan will pull me down if You do not take pity.   It is terrible to turn to You;  but oh, turn me and so shall I be turned.

It is a purgatory to endure the sight of You, the sight of myself – I most vile, You most holy.   Yet make me look once more on You whom I have so incomprehensibly affronted, for Your countenance is my only life, my only hope and health lies in looking on You whom I have pierced.   So I put myself before You;  I look on You again;  I endure the pain in order to receive the purification.

O my God, how can I look You in the face when I think of my ingratitude, so deeply seated, so habitual, so immovable – or rather so awfully increasing!

You load me day by day with Your favours and feed me with Yourself, as You did Judas, yet not only do I not profit thereby but I do not even make any acknowledgement at the time.

Lord, how long?   When shall I be free of this real, this fatal captivity?   He who made Judas his prey has got foothold of me in my old age and I cannot get loose.   It is the same day after day.   When will You give me a still greater grace than You have given, the grace to profit by the graces that You give?   When will You give me Your effectual grace, which alone can give life and vigour to this effete, miserable, dying soul of mine?

My God, I know not in what sense I can pain You in Your glorified state but I know that every fresh sin, every fresh ingratitude I now commit, was among the blows and stripes that once fell on You in Your Passion.   Oh, let me have as little share in those past sufferings as possible.   Day by day goes and I find I have been more and more, by the new sins of each day, the cause of them.   I know that at best I have a real share of them all but still it is shocking to find myself having a greater and greater share.   Let others wound You – let not me.   Let me not have to think that You would have had this or that pang of soul or body the less, except for me.

O my God, I am so fast in prison that I cannot get out.   O Mary, pray for me.”o my god how can i look you in the face - behold the man - bl john henry newman - good friday part two - 30 march 2018

 

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, HOLY WEEK, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on JUSTICE, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on OBEDIENCE, QUOTES on PEACE, QUOTES on PERSECUTION, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on TEMPTATION, QUOTES on the DEVIL/EVIL, QUOTES on TRUST and complete CONFIDENCE in GOD, The HOLY CROSS, The PASSION

Quote of the Day – 28 March – Wednesday of Holy Week 2018

Quote of the Day – 28 March – Wednesday of Holy Week 2018

By nothing else except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ
has death been brought low, the sin of our first parent destroyed,
hell plundered, resurrection bestowed,
the power given us to despise the things of this world,
even death itself, the road back to the former blessedness made smooth,
the gates of paradise opened, our nature seated at the right hand of God
and we made children and heirs of God.
By the cross all these things have been set aright…
It is a seal that the destroyer may not strike us,
a raising up of those who lie fallen,
a support for those who stand,
a staff for the infirm,
a crook for the shepherded,
a guide for the wandering,
a perfecting of the advanced,
salvation for soul and body,
a deflector of all evils,
a cause of all goods,
a destruction of sin,
a plant of resurrection
and a tree of eternal life.

St John Damascene (675-749) Father & Doctor of the Churchby nothing else except the cross - st john damascene - 28 march 2018 - wed of holy week 2018

Posted in HOLY WEEK, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on SUFFERING, SAINT of the DAY, The HOLY CROSS, The PASSION

One Minute Reflection – 26 March 2018 – Monday of Holy week and the Memorial of St Braulio (590-651)

One Minute Reflection – 26 March 2018 – Monday of Holy week and the Memorial of St Braulio (590-651)

Mary brought in a pound of very costly ointment, pure nard, and with it anointed the feet of Jesus, wiping them with her hair; the house was filled with the scent of the ointment…John 12:3

john 12 3

REFLECTION – “O souls! Seek a refuge, like pure doves, in the shadow of the crucifix. There, mourn the Passion of your divine Spouse and drawing from your hearts flames of love and rivers of tears, make of them a precious balm with which to anoint the wounds of your Saviour.”…St Paul of the Cross (1694-1775)o souls, seek a refuge - st paul of the cross - 26 march 2018

PRAYER – Almighty God, grant that we who are constantly betrayed by our own weakness, may draw the breath of new life from the passion and death of Your only-begotten Son.   St Braulio, you who worked so zealously to assist those in weakness, both in body and soul, please pray for us too.   Through our Lord and Saviour, who suffered and died for us, in unity with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.st braulio - pray for us - 26 march 2018

Posted in CONFESSION/PENANCE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on OBEDIENCE, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on TEMPTATION, SACRAMENTS, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS

Lenten Reflection – 13 March 2018 – Tuesday of the 4th Week of Lent

Lenten Reflection – 13 March – Tuesday of the 4th Week of Lent

Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12, Psalms 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9, John 5:1-16

Ezekiel 47:9And wherever the river goes every living creature which swarms will live, and there will be very many fish; for this water goes there, that the waters of the seak may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes.

John 5:6-9When Jesus saw him and knew that he had been lying there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is troubled, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your pallet, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his pallet and walked.tuesday of the fourth week - 13 march 2018

The theme of life-giving water again dominates the readings of today’s Mass. “Come to the waters, all who thirst, though you have no money, come and drink with joy” (Entrance Antiphon).   The time for the prospective converts’ baptism is drawing near.
We need to be reminded that we don’t have to imagine ourselves as catechumens to share their desire and thirst.   We can and do, always long for greater and greater union in love “All who thirst, come to the waters.”   The Opening Prayer is not just for catechumens but for us all – “Father, may our lenten observance prepare us to embrace the paschal mystery and proclaim Your salvation with joyful praise.”
To embrace the paschal mystery is to die and rise with Jesus.   It is the ultimate glory of every human, baptised or not.   If we do not yet experience the fullness of the thirst for God signified by the living waters of baptism, it may well be that our thirst has been dulled by our personal alienation from Christ.   Conversion to Christ is ongoing, it never ends!   This conversion we claim to be working at, is it for real and for how long?   We don’t have to tell our Lord that we have no-one to put us into the water, we KNOW where the pool is – it is the Sacrament of Confession, it is in Confession where He heals us just as He healed the man at the pool!   The healing pool is also the Eucharist and certainly, it will be the grace-filled moment of our baptismal renewal on Holy Saturday night and Easter.

What the catechumens longed for, we possess now – Baptism, the Eucharist, Confession and these are always available. We don’t even have to wait for Easter!

In our Easter encounter with Him who is our Good Shepherd and who says, “I lay down my life for my sheep”, satisfies all our wants and desires and needs.   “In green pastures He will give us rest, He will lead us along the waters of peace” (Communion Antiphon).   In the Eucharist, in Confession, God is and always will be in our midst!   Run to Him, praise Him!…(Fr E Lawrence OSB- Daily Meditations for Lent)

When has God been most present to you?
How often to I attend Daily Mass and Confession?
Could I change this practise – today and for the rest of my life?

“Ah, who would not be touched? …. A God who weeps with so many tears at the loss of one soul and Who cries unceasingly:  My friend, my friend, why proceedest thou thus to lose thy soul and thy God?   Stop! Stop!   Ah! Look at my tears, my Blood which flows yet. Must I die a second time to save thee?   Look at me.   Ah! Angels from Heaven descend upon earth, come and weep with me for the loss of this soul!   Oh, that a Christian should be so unfortunate as to persevere still in running towards the abyss despite the voice which his God causes him to hear continually!   But, you may say to me, no one says these things to us.   Oh my friends, unless you want to stop up your ears, you will hear the voice of God, which follows you unceasingly.

Tell me, my friends, then, what is this remorse of conscience which overwhelms you in the midst of sin?   Why do these anxieties and storms agitate you?   Why this fear, this dread that you are in, when you seem to be forever expecting to be crushed by the thunders of Heaven?   How many times, even when you were sinning, have you not experienced the touch of an invisible hand which seemed to push you away, as if someone were saying:   Unhappy man, what are you doing?   Unhappy man, where are you going?   Ah my son, why do you wish to damn yourself? ….

Would you not agree with me that a Christian who despises so many graces deserves to be abandoned and rejected because he has not listened to the voice of God or profited by His graces?   On the contrary, my dear brethren, it is God Himself Who is scorned by this ungrateful soul who would seem to wish to put Him to death again.   All creation demands vengeance and it is, in fact, God alone Who wishes to save this soul and Who is opposed to all that could be prejudicial to it.

He watches over its salvation as if it were the only soul in the world.”...St John Vianney (1786-1859)

For a small teardrop from the eye
can cause an entire evil platoon of the Tempter’s
army to shrink away,
like the squirming of centipedes or earthworms,
drowning in a puddle of oil or a drop of
some lethal potion.
And the faint groan of a sighing heart,
rising from the soul,
is like a warm southerly breeze, mixed with sun,
that melts the fiercest blizzard,
for like storms, they are easily born and when
opposed, quickly die.

St Gregory of Narek (c951-c1010) Doctor of the Churchfor a small teardrop from the eye - st gregory of narek - 13 march 2018

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, GOD the FATHER, LENT, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on MERCY, QUOTES on PRAYER, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on SIN

Lenten Reflection – 27 February 2018 – Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent, Year B and the Memorial of St Gregory of Narek (950-1003) – Doctor of the Church

Lenten Reflection – 27 February 2018 – Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent, Year B and the Memorial of St Gregory of Narek (950-1003) – Doctor of the Church

Isaiah 1:10, 16-20, Psalms 50:8-9, 16-17, 21, 23, Matthew 23:1-12

Isaiah 1:10 – Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom!
Give ear to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah!
Psalm 50:8-9 – I do not reprove you for your sacrifices;
your burnt offerings are continually before me.
I will accept no bull from your house,
nor he-goat from your folds.
Matthew 23:2-3 – “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; so practice and observe whatever they tell you but not what they do; for they preach, but do not practice…
All their actions are done to be seen by others, for they broaden their CLERICAL COLLARS and lengthen their CHASUBLES.”tuesday of the second week - 27 feb 2018

God often works by shocking us (otherwise we should drift into comfortable complacency).   Today’s readings are very shocking indeed.
First of all you have Isaiah calling the religious leaders of his time and place “rulers of Sodom” and his compatriots, ‘peoples of Gomorrah” and as they digest this he bellows at them:  “Wash! Make yourselves clean!” and reminds them – that is us of course, of how much they have got wrong and how much they have still to put right.
But there is hope, nevertheless, ‘come now, let us reason together’, says God disarmingly.

And the Psalm today offers another shock.   Suddenly, it is the sacrificial system that is thrown into doubt.   God is apparently bored by all these sacrifices – unless they are accompanied by internal reform, they are of not value.   And this Lent, the same applies to all of us, of course!

Finally, the Gospel brings yet another shock, as Jesus lays into the Pharisees and scribes. Now, we must be beware of nodding wisely as we listen and saying ‘quite right Jesus, they had it coming to them’, for the scribes and the Pharisees are you and me, anyone who exercises any kind of Christian leadership and so ‘I have translated the word ‘phylactery’ as ‘clerical collar’ and ‘hem’ as ‘chasuble’.   For all these criticisms can be laid against us all and this Lent we need to look closely at this fact!   (Fr Nicholas King S.J. – Daily Meditations for Lent)

Our task, by contrast, is to ‘humble ourselves’ as Jesus did in the awfulness of the Cross and from that plight it is possible for God to rescue us.

Sometimes we need to be reminded of our failings in order to start that turn back toward God. Many of us are unaware that we are in the pig pen like the prodigal before he realised his state and sought his father’s house.

Where in my life could I be more humble?
Where do I seek recognition, honour or positions of power, perhaps to the detriment of my neighbour?
Has power gone to my head?

YOU HAVE NOT THE TIME!

“We can only find our happiness on earth in loving God and we can only love Him in prayer to Him.   We see that Jesus Christ, to encourage us often to have recourse to Him through prayer, promises never to refuse us anything if we pray for it as we should.   But there is no need to go looking for elaborate and roundabout ways of showing you that we should pray often, for you have only to open your catechism and you will see there that the duty of every good Christian is to pray morning and evening and often during the day — that is to say, always….

Which of us, my dear brethren, could, without tears of compassion, listen to those poor Christians who dare to say that they have not time to pray?   You have not the time!   Poor blind creatures, which is the more precious action:  to strive to please God and to save your soul, or to go out to feed your animals in the stable or to call your children or your servants in order to send them out to till the earth or to tidy up the stable?   Dear God!   How blind man is! …. You have not the time!   But tell me, ungrateful creatures, if God had called you to die that night, would you have exerted yourselves?   If He had sent you three or four months of illness, would you have exerted yourselves?   Go away, you miserable creatures;  you deserve to have God abandon you in your blindness and leave you thus to perish.   We find that it is too much to give Him a few minutes to thank Him for the graces which He is giving us at every instant! ….

You must get on with your work, you say.

That, my dear people, is where you are greatly mistaken.  You have no other work to do except to please God and to save your souls.   All the rest is not your work.   If you do not do it, others will, but if you lose your soul, who will save it?”

St John Vianney (1786-1859)

And now, my heavy laden soul,
what will you do?
You call with your lips and voice to
God most high,
God, who cares only for deeds and
is not taken in by words.
You, my soul, with a heart always turned toward Egypt,
how can I describe you?

Am I
a Sodom, to be punished likewise with destruction, 
or the prosecutor of Ninevah, who was struck dumb? 

Am I
more cowardly and barbarous than the
queen of the south, 
lower than Canaan, 
more stubborn than Amalek,
incurable as the city of idols, 
a relic left behind from the rebellion of Israel,
a reminder of the broken covenant of Judah, 
more reproachable than Tyre, 
more shunned than Zidon, 
more immoral than Galilee,
more unpardonable than faithless Capernaum,
maligned like Korazin, 
slandered like Bethsaida? 

Or am I
immodest as Ephraim as he grayed,
or a dove, whose gentleness seems due to
feeblemindedness and not to inner calm, 
or an evil serpent born of lion’s cubs,
or the serpent’s egg filled with decay,
or like the last blow against Jerusalem?

Or am I
in the words of our Lord
and the sayings of the prophets,
an abandoned tabernacle about to collapse,
the unlatched doors of the stronghold,
my speaking edifice stained again,
having given up my rightful inheritance,
my home built by God,
as Moses, David and Jeremiah prophesied?  
My thinking body now consumed by disease,
afflicted with carping counsel, rehabilitated by the law,
anointed with the clay of mildness,
incapable of finding my own salvation,
torn away from the maker’s hand,
expelled as just punishment
by order of the Almighty, to an unholy place,
rejected, exiled, greatly shunned, nothing spared,
having buried my gift in the ground, 
like the one chastised in the Gospel by
losing his inheritance.

But you, God,
Lord of souls and all flesh,
in the words of one divinely graced, 
You are long-suffering and abounding in mercy.
In the voice of blessed Jonah,
grant that I finish to Your delight
this book of prayers, now begun.
And having sown these words with tears
and set forth on this journey toward the dwellings You have prepared,
may I return joyfully in the time of harvest
with the bounty of atonement,
with sheaves of goodness and the fruits of delight.

St Gregory of Narek (950-1003) – Doctor of the Churchbut you God - st gregory of narek - 27 feb 2018

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, LENT, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on SIN, SAINT of the DAY, The GOOD SHEPHERD

Quote of the Day – 27 February – The Memorial of St Gregory of Narek (950-1003) – Doctor of the Church

Quote of the Day – 27 February – The Memorial of St Gregory of Narek (950-1003) – Doctor of the Church

“You found me,
a sinner,
lost in darkness
crying like
the psalmist in prayer,
and because of
Your willing care
you were called Shepherd,
for not only
did You care
but You sought,
not only did You find,
O worker of miracles
but with the goodness
of Your love,
a love that
defies description,
You rescued me,
lifting me upon
Your shoulders,
to set me down alongside
Your heavenly army,
the heirs to
Your fatherly legacy. ”

St Gregory of Narek (Book of Lamentations)you found me a sinner - st gregory of narek - 27 feb 2018

Posted in LENT, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on SIN, The INCARNATION, The PASSION

Thought for the Day – 26 February 2018 – Monday of the Second Week of Lent

Thought for the Day – 26 February 2018 – Monday of the Second Week of Lent
Daniel 9:4-10, Psalms 79:8-9, 11, 13, Luke 6:36-38

WE ARE WRETCHED CREATURES

We cannot dwell upon the conduct of the Jews, my dear people, without being struck with amazement.   These very people had waited for God for four thousand years, they had prayed much because of the great desire they had to receive Him and yet when He came, He could not find a single person to give Him the poorest lodging.   The all-powerful God was obliged to make His dwelling with the animals.

And yet, my dear people, I find in the conduct of the Jews, criminal as it was, not a subject for explanations but a theme for the condemnation of the conduct of the majority of Christians.

We can see that the Jews had formed an idea of their Redeemer which did not conform with the state of austerity in which He appeared.   It seemed as if they could not persuade themselves that this could indeed be He who was to be their Saviour;  St Paul tells us very clearly that if the Jews had recognised Him as God, they would never have put Him to death.   There is, then, some small excuse for the Jews.   But what excuse can we make, my dear brethren, for the coldness and the contempt which we show towards Jesus Christ?

Oh, yes, we do indeed truly believe that Jesus Christ came upon earth, that He provided the most convincing proofs of His divinity.   Hence the reason for our hope.   We rejoice and we have good reason to recognise Jesus Christ as our God, our Saviour and our Model.   Here is the foundation of our faith.

But, tell me, with all this, what homage do we really pay Him?   Do we do more for Him than if we did not believe all this?   Tell me, dear brethren, does our conduct correspond at all to our beliefs?   We are wretched creatures.

We are even more blameworthy than the Jews!

St John Marie Baptiste Vianney (1786-1859)oh yes, we do indeed truly believe - st john vianney - 26 feb 2018