Quote/s of the Day – 19 June – Wednesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time, Year C and the Memorial of St Romuald (c 951-1027)
“Better to pray one psalm
with devotion and compunction,
than a hundred with distraction.”
“Sit in your cell as in paradise.
Put the whole world
behind you and forget it.
Watch your thoughts
like a good fisherman
watching for fish.”
One Minute Reflection – 19 June – Wednesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Matthew 6:1–6 and the Memorial of St Romuald (c 951-1027) and St Juliana Falconieri OSM (1270 – 1341)
“Beware of practising your piety before men, in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven..”... Matthew 6:1
REFLECTION – ”Vainglory can find a place, not only, in the splendour and pomp of worldly wealth but even in the sordid garment of sackcloth as well. It is then all the more dangerous, because it is a deception, under the pretence of service to God.
When one dazzles by immoderate adornment of the body and its raiment, or by the splendour of whatever else one may possess, by that very fact, one is easily shown to desire ostentatious display. This person deceives nobody by a crafty semblance of holiness. But if, through extraordinary squalor and shabbiness, one is attracting others’ attention to one’s manner of professing Christianity and if, one is doing this of choice and not merely enduring it through necessity, then one may determine by one’s other works whether one is doing it through an indifference toward needless adornment, or through ambition of some kind. Indeed, the Lord has forewarned us to beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing: “By their fruits you shall know them.”
Trials of one kind or another, that cause these people to lose the very advantages they have gained, through their dress or claimed to deny, what they sought to gain by it, will inevitably reveal, whether it is a case of a wolf under a sheep’s skin or a sheep under its own. But just as sheep ought not to change their skin even though wolves sometimes hide themselves beneath it, so a Christian ought not try to delight the eyes of others by needless adornment, just because pretenders very often assume that scanty garb, which necessity demands and assume it, for the purpose of deceiving those, who are less aware.” … St Augustine (354-430) (Sermon on the Mount, 2)
PRAYER – Lord God, in Your wisdom You created us. By Your providence You rule us. Penetrate our inmost being with Your holy light, so that we may shine only by our service and imitation of Your Son and never seek to shine by our own efforts. May we be mirrors of His meek and humble Heart. Grant that the prayers of St Romuald and St Juliana Falconieri may be help on our way. Through Christ our Lord, in union with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.
Thought for the Day – 18 June – Tuesday of the Eleventh week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Matthew 5:43–48
But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…
Matthew 5:44
Sermons addressed to the people, no. 23, 3; SC 243
In all these works of true and perfect charity I am telling you about, nothing is to be done with hand or foot – in other words, no-one can say they are incapable of them or too weak. (…) No-one can plausibly raise any kind of excuse against them, saying, that they are unable to put these counsels into practice. For you are not being told: “Fast more than you are able, stay awake all night more than you have the strength to do!” (…); no-one is obliging you to sell all your goods and give everything to the poor or to remain a virgin. (…) Let someone who can do all these things give thanks to God. And let someone who cannot, maintain true charity and they will possess everything in this. For love suffices, even without all those good works but those good works, without love, are wholly useless. That is why I am saying and repeating these things to you, dearest brethren, so that you may evermore fully understand, that no-one can claim, they are incapable of, carrying out God’s commandments.
So hold fast to the sweet and salutary bond of love, without which, the rich are poor and with which the poor are rich. What do the rich possess if not charity? (…) And since “God is love,” (1 Jn 4:8) as John the evangelist says, what can the poor lack, if they merit to possess God by means of charity? (…) So love, dearest brethren and hold fast to charity without which no-one will ever see God.
19 February 2017
Our Morning Offering – 18 June – Tuesday of the Eleventh week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Month of the Sacred Heart
May the Heart of Jesus
be the King of my Heart!
By St Francis De Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor of Charity
May Your heart
dwell always in our hearts!
May Your blood
ever flow in the veins of our souls!
O sun of our hearts,
You give life to all things
by the rays of Your goodness!
I will not go,
until Your heart has strengthened me,
O Lord Jesus!
May the heart of Jesus
be the King of my heart!
Blessed be God.
Amen
One Minute Reflection – 17 June – Monday of the Eleventh week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel : Matthew 5:38–42 and the Memorial of Blessed Joseph-Marie Cassant OCSO (1878-1903)
“Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles.”… Matthew 5:41
REFLECTION – “Do you grasp the excellence of a Christian disposition? After you give your coat and your cloak, even if your enemy should wish to subject your naked body to hardships and labours, not even then, Jesus says, must you forbid him. For He would have us possess all things in common, both our bodies and our goods, as with them that are in need, so with them that insult us. For the latter response comes from a courageous spirit, the former from mercy. Because of this, Jesus said, “If any one shall compel you to go one mile, go with him two.” Again He leads you to higher ground and commands you to manifest the same type of aspiration. For if the lesser things He spoke of at the beginning receive such great blessings, consider what sort of reward awaits those who duly perform these and what they become even before we hear of receiving rewards. You are winning full freedom from unworthy passions in a human and passible body.” … Saint John Chrysostom (347-407) Bishop, Father & Doctor (The Gospel of Matthew: Homily 18)
PRAYER – King of heaven and earth, Lord God, rule over or 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. Teach us Lord to walk in the ways of the Cross of Your Son, our Saviour, as Blessed Joseph-Marie Cassant so lovingly and willingly inspires us to do. Through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God, forever, amen.
https://anastpaul.com/2018/06/11/saint-of-the-day-11-june-st-barnabas-apostle-son-of-encouragement/
https://anastpaul.com/2017/06/11/saint-of-the-day-st-barnabas-the-apostle-11-june/
News of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad and he exhorted them all, to remain faithful to the Lord, with steadfast purpose; for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a large company was added to the Lord...Acts 11:22-24
“While we cannot see God, there is something we can do, to open a way, for the eye of our understanding to come to Him. It is certain that we can see now in His servants, one whom we can in no way see in Himself. When we see them doing astonishing things, we can be sure that God dwells in their hearts… None of us can look directly at the rising sun by gazing at its orb. Our eyes are repelled as they strain to see its rays. But we look at mountains bathed in sunlight and see that it has risen. Because we cannot see the Sun of righteousness (Mal 3,20) Himself, let us see the mountains bathed in His brightness, I mean the holy apostles. They shine with virtues and gleam with miracles… The power of His divinity, is in itself, like the sun in the sky; in human beings it is like the sun shining on earth…”
St Pope Gregory the Great (c 540-604), Father & Doctor of the Church
(Homilies on the Gospel, no 30)
Vatican Decree here: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/03/04/pope-francis-institutes-new-celebration-of-mary-mother-of-the-church/
“As a caring guide to the emerging Church,
Mary had already begun her mission
in the Upper Room, praying with the Apostles,
while awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit.”Cardinal Robert Sarah
Congregation of Divine Worship
and the Discipline of the Sacraments,
11 February 2018, the memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lourdes.
DECREE ON THE CELEBRATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY,
MOTHER OF THE CHURCH IN THE GENERAL ROMAN CALENDAR
“…She is clearly the Mother
of his members;
that is, of ourselves,
because she cooperated
by her charity,
so that faithful Christians,
members of the Head,
might be born in the Church.
As for the body,
she is the Mother of its Head…
Mary gave birth to our Head;
the Church gave birth to you.
Indeed, the Church also,
is both virgin and mother,
mother, because of her
womb of charity,
virgin, because of the integrity
of her faith and piety.”
“Who, more than Mary, could be, a star of hope for us?
With her “yes”, she opened the door of our world,
to God Himself; she became the living Ark of the Covenant,
in whom God took flesh, became one of us
and pitched His tent among us.”
Mother, help our faith!
Open our ears to hear God’s word
and to recognise His voice and call.
Awaken in us a desire, to follow in His footsteps,
to go forth from our own land
and to receive His promise.
Help us to be touched by His love,
that we may touch Him in faith.
Help us to entrust ourselves fully to Him
and to believe in His love,
especially at times of trial,
beneath the shadow of the cross,
when our faith is called to mature.
Sow in our faith the joy of the Risen One.
Remind us that those who believe are never alone.
Teach us to see all things with the eyes of Jesus,
that He may be light for our path.
And may this light of faith,
always increase in us,
until the dawn of that undying day,
which is Christ Himself, your Son, our Lord!
Amen
Prayer to Mary at the conclusion of the Encyclical Lumen Fidei (29 June 2013)
Image of Mary – Our Lady of the Column in St Peter’s Basilica
Gracious Lady,
you are a mother and virgin,
you are the mother
of the body and soul
of our Head and Redeemer,
you are also truly mother
of all the members of Christ’s Mystical Body.
For through your love,
you have co-operated
in the begetting of the faithful in the Church.
Unique among women,
you are mother and virgin,
mother of Christ and virgin of Christ.
You are the beauty and charm of earth, O Virgin.
You are, forever, the image of the holy Church.
Through a woman came death,
through a woman came life,
yes, through you, O Mother of God.
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the heart of Your servant and enkindle in us the fire of Your gifts! Be with us, in us and lead us to the light, amen.
“…We have only to say “yes” to let Him take us there.“
St John Vianney (1786-1859)
“If the damned were asked – Why are you in Hell? they would answer: ‘For having resisted the Holy Spirit.’
And if the saints were asked – Why are you in Heaven? they would answer: ‘For having listened to the Holy Spirit.’
When good thoughts come into our minds, it is the Holy Spirit who is visiting us.
The Holy Spirit is a power.
The Holy Spirit …. sustained the martyrs. Without the Holy Spirit, the martyrs would have fallen like the leaves from the trees. When the fires were lighted under them, the Holy Spirit extinguished the heat of the fire by the heat of divine love.
The good God, in sending us the Holy Spirit, has treated us like a great king who should send his minister to guide one of his subjects, saying, “You will accompany this man everywhere and you will bring him back to me safe and sound.”
How beautiful it is, my children, to be accompanied by the Holy Spirit!
He is indeed a good Guide; and to think that there are some who will not follow Him!
The Holy Spirit is like a man with a carriage and horse, who should want to take us to Pans. We should only have to say “yes,” and to get into it. It is indeed an easy matter to say “yes”!… Well, the Holy Spirit wants to take us to Heaven, we have only to say “yes,” and to let Him take us there.“
“O Divine Spirit, draw us to the highest heaven
where Jesus lives forever, interceding for us.
Come, fill our hearts with Your fire,
show us the way to the Lord, that we may find Him
shining with beauty and love.
Amen”
“Accordingly, in the Church,
one God is preached,
one God who is above all things
and through all things and in all things.
God is above all things as Father,
for He is principle and source;
He is through all things through the Word;
and He is in all things in the Holy Spirit.”
Pentecost post here:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/05/20/the-solemnity-of-pentecost-20-may/
Novena to the Holy Spirit – Day Nine – 8 June
“I believe in the Holy Spirit”
The Church, a communion living in the faith of the apostles
which she transmits, is the place where we know the Holy Spirit:
– in the Scriptures He inspired;
– in the Tradition, to which the Church Fathers are always timely witnesses;
– in the Church’s Magisterium, which He assists;
– in the sacramental liturgy, through its words and symbols,
in which the Holy Spirit puts us into communion with Christ;
– in prayer, wherein He intercedes for us;
– in the charisms and ministries, by which the Church is built up;
– in the signs of apostolic and missionary life;
– in the witness of saints, through whom
He manifests His holiness
and continues the work of salvation.Catechism of the Catholic Church
Section Two – Article 8 “I believe in the Holy Spirit” #688++++++++++++++++++++
“We receive the Spirit of truth
so that we can know the things of God.
In order to grasp this,
consider how useless the faculties of the human body would becom,
if they were denied their exercise.
Our eyes cannot fulfil their task without light, either natural or artificial,
our ears cannot react without sound vibrations
and in the absence of any odour, our nostrils are ignorant of their function.
Not that these senses would lose their own nature, if they were not used. rather, they demand objects of experience in order to function.
It is the same with the human soul.
Unless it absorbs the gift of the Spirit through faith,
the mind has the ability to know God
but lacks the light necessary for that knowledge.”St Hilary of Poitiers (315-368)
Father & Doctor of the Church
For the Traditional Novena, here with the Act of Consecration: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/05/11/pentecost-novena-to-the-holy-spirit-for-the-seven-gifts-day-one-11-may-2018/
Begin by reciting the following prayer…
O Holy Spirit, Divine Consoler!
I adore You as my True God.
I offer You my whole heart
and I render You heartfelt thanks
for all the benefits You have bestowed upon the world.
You are the author of all supernatural gifts
and enriched the Blessed Virgin Mary,
the Mother of God,
with all favours,
I ask You to visit me by Your grace and Your love,
and grant me the favour
I so earnestly seek…
…………………………………. State your request here…
O Holy Spirit,
spirit of truth, come into our hearts.
O Lord, Holy Spirit,
grant me sight to see the wondrous promise of divine love,
insight to see my own weakness,
delight in Your divine presence in my soul
which You have made Your temple, through sanctifying grace.
I pray, O Holy Spirit,
that I may be not doubting;
that I be spared the pain of being alone
without trust or hope in Christ,
that my prayer may always be “My Lord and my God!”
I pray that I may acquire a sense of retreat
to prayer and recollection at various times in my daily life,
for prayer is the bond that joins us to Christ.
I pray that I may be aware of the physical needs of the poor
and that I may share what I can with them
in the charitable works of the Church.
I pray, O Holy Spirit,
that You will, in Your mercy
grant me the favour, I have sought in this novena.
Come, O Holy Spirit,
fill the hearts of Your faithful,
and kindle in them the fire of Your love.
Amen
“Remember, then, that you received a spiritual seal,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of knowledge and reverence,
the spirit of holy fear.
Keep safe what you received.
God the Father sealed you,
Christ the Lord strengthened you
and sent the Spirit into your hearts
as the pledge of what is to come.”St Ambrose (340-397)
Father & Doctor of the Church
For the Traditional Novena, here with the Act of Consecration: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/05/11/pentecost-novena-to-the-holy-spirit-for-the-seven-gifts-day-one-11-may-2018/
Begin by reciting the following prayer…
O Holy Spirit, Divine Consoler!
I adore You as my True God.
I offer You my whole heart,
and I render You heartfelt thanks
for all the benefits You have bestowed upon the world.
You are the author of all supernatural gifts
and enriched the Blessed Virgin Mary,
the Mother of God,
with all favours,
I ask You to visit me by Your grace and Your love,
and grant me the favour
I so earnestly seek…
…………………………………. State your request here…
O Holy Spirit,
spirit of truth, come into our hearts.
Let us Pray:
O Father in Heaven,
I beg You to send the Holy Spirit.
May Your Holy Spirit remind me
when I am apt to forget Your law.
Your love, Your promises.
May Your Holy Spirit strengthen my memory
to recall frequently Your sanctity,
omniscience, wisdom and goodness,
faithfulness and love.
May Your Holy Spirit encourage me,
when I am slothful,
strengthen me,
when I am weak,
enlighten me,
when I no longer can help myself.
Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit,
that I may do what is holy.
Stir me, that I may love what is holy.
Strengthen me, that I may preserve what is holy.
Protect me, Holy Spirit,
that I may never lose what is holy
and grant me the favour,
I so earnestly seek in this novena…
Come, O Holy Spirit,
fill the hearts of Your faithful,
and kindle in them the fire of Your love.
Amen
Novena to the Holy Spirit – Day Four – 3 June
“O Holy Spirit, descend plentifully into my heart.
Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwelling
and scatter there Your cheerful beams.”
St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor of Grace
For the Traditional Novena, here with the Act of Consecration: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/05/11/pentecost-novena-to-the-holy-spirit-for-the-seven-gifts-day-one-11-may-2018/
O Holy Spirit, Divine Consoler!
I adore You as my True God.
I offer You my whole heart
and I render You heartfelt thanks
for all the benefits You have bestowed upon the world.
You are the author of all supernatural gifts
and enriched the Blessed Virgin Mary,
the Mother of God,
with all favours,
I ask You to visit me by Your grace and Your love
and grant me the favour
I so earnestly seek…
…………………………………. State your request here…
O Holy Spirit,
spirit of truth, come into our hearts.
Let us Pray:
O God,
Who today, by the light of the Holy Spirit
did instruct the hearts of the faithful,
give us, by the light of the same Holy Spirit,
a love for what is right and just
and a constant enjoyment of His comforts.
Pray Holy Spirit,
that I may strive to learn more of my faith;
that I may ever be conscious
that reason, in all its human magnificence,
is capable of grasping but a glimpse of the reality that is God.
Pray that I may accept as the motto of my life:
“All for the greater glory of God”
and grant me the favour I so earnestly seek in this novena…
Come, O Holy Spirit,
fill the hearts of Your faithful,
and kindle in them
the fire of Your love.
Amen
Quote/s of the Day – 24 May – Friday of the Fifth Week of Eastertide: Today’s Gospel John 15:12-17
“This is my commandment,
that you love one another,
as I have loved you…
“What is the mark of love for your neighbour?
Not to seek what is for your own benefit
but what is for the benefit of the one loved,
both in body and in soul.”
“Since love grows within you,
so beauty grows.
For love is the beauty of the soul.”
“God is always trying to give good things to us
but our hands are too full to receive them!”
“Nothing is sweeter than love,
nothing stronger or higher or wider;
nothing is more pleasant, nothing fuller
and nothing better in heaven or on earth,
for love is born of God
and cannot rest except in God,
Who is above all created things.”
“Love knows no limit
to its endurance,
no end to its trust,
no fading of its hope,
it can outlast anything.
Love still stands,
when all else has fallen.”
One Minute Reflection – 23 May – Thursday of the Fifth Week of Easter, C, First Reading: Acts 15:7-21 and the Memorial of St John Baptist de Rossi (1698-1764)
“He made no distinction between us and them, for by faith he purified their hearts.” …Acts 15:9
REFLECTION – “Faith in God purifies the heart, the pure heart sees God. But faith is sometimes defined, as followed by people, who wish to deceive themselves, — as if it were enough merely to believe — some people, you see, promise themselves the vision of God and the kingdom of heaven for believing, while living bad lives. Against these the apostle James indignantly took umbrage out of spiritual charity, so he says in his letter, “You believe that God is one.” You pat yourself on your back for your faith, you observe that many godless people assume there are many gods and you congratulate yourself for believing that there is only one God. “You do well. The demons also believe — and shudder.” Shall they too see God? Those who are pure of heart shall see Him. Whoever would say, that the unclean spirits are pure of heart? And yet, “they believe—and shudder.”
So our faith must be distinguished from the faith of demons. Our faith, you see, purifies the heart, their faith makes them guilty. So let us distinguish our faith and see that believing is not enough. That is not the sort of faith that purifies the heart. “Purifying their hearts,” it says, “by faith.” But which faith, what sort of faith? The one, surely, which the apostle Paul defines when he says “faith that works through love.” This faith is different from the faith of demons, different from the morals of dissolute and desperate people. “Faith,” he says. “Which faith?” The one “that works through love,” hopes for what God promises. You could not have a more perfect, a more carefully thought-out definition than that.”…St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor (Sermon 53)
PRAYER – Lord God, we were sinners and Your grace made us holy, we were without hope and You filled us with faith and joy. Stand by us, in Your saving work and stay with us, in Your gifts of grace. May we never fail to persevere in the holiness that comes from faith. Listen to the prayers of the Mother of our Lord and our Mother and those of St John Baptist de Rossi, whom we ask for supplication. Through Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever, amen.
Thought for the Day – 22 May – Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter C, Gospel: John 15:1-8
“I am the true vine and my Father is the vine grower.
He takes away every branch in me
that does not bear fruit and everyone that does,
he prunes so that it bears more fruit” … John 15:1-2
(Nn. 5-6; Funk, 397-401)
Christians are indistinguishable from other men either by nationality, language or customs. They do not inhabit separate cities of their own, or speak a strange dialect, or follow some outlandish way of life. Their teaching is not based upon reveries inspired by the curiosity of men. Unlike some other people, they champion no purely human doctrine. With regard to dress, food and manner of life in general, they follow the customs of whatever city they happen to be living in, whether it is Greek or foreign.
And yet there is something extraordinary about their lives. They live in their own countries as though they were only passing through. They play their full role as citizens, but labour under all the disabilities of aliens. Any country can be their homeland but for them their homeland, wherever it may be, is a foreign country . Like others, they marry and have children but they do not expose them. They share their meals but not their wives. They live in the flesh but they are not governed by the desires of the flesh. They pass their days upon earth but they are citizens of heaven. Obedient to the laws, they yet live on a level that transcends the law.
Christians love all men but all men persecute them. Condemned because they are not understood, they are put to death but raised to life again. They live in poverty but enrich many, they are totally destitute but possess an abundance of everything. They suffer dishonour but that is their glory. They are defamed but vindicated. A blessing is their answer to abuse, deference, their response to insult. For the good they do they receive the punishment of malefactors but even then they rejoice, as though receiving the gift of life. They are attacked by the Jews as aliens, they are persecuted by the Greeks, yet no one can explain the reason for this hatred.
To speak in general terms, we may say that the Christian is to the world what the soul is to the body. As the soul is present in every part of the body, while remaining distinct from it, so Christians are found in all the cities of the world but cannot be identified with the world. As the visible body contains the invisible soul, so Christians are seen living in the world but their religious life remains unseen. The body hates the soul and wars against it, not because of any injury the soul has done it but because of the restriction the soul places on its pleasures. Similarly, the world hates the Christians, not because they have done it any wrong but because they are opposed to its enjoyments.
Christians love those who hate them just as the soul loves the body and all its members despite the body’s hatred. It is by the soul, enclosed within the body, that the body is held together and similarly, it is by the Christians, detained in the world as in a prison, that the world is held together. The soul, though immortal, has a mortal dwelling place and Christians also live for a time amidst perishable things, while awaiting the freedom from change and decay that will be theirs in heaven. As the soul benefits from the deprivation of food and drink, so Christians flourish under persecution. Such is the Christian’s lofty and divinely appointed function, from which he is not permitted to excuse himself…Vatican.va
Prayer
Father of all holiness,
guide our hearts to You.
Keep in the light of Your truth
all those You have freed from the darkness of unbelief.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Prepared by the Spiritual Theology Department
of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross
One Minute Reflection -20 May – Monday of the fifth Week of Easter, C, Gospel: John 14:21–26 and the Memorial of St Bernadine of Siena OFM. (1380-1444)
“We will come to him and make our dwelling with him”…John 14:24
REFLECTION – “My Father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him.” Consider, dearly beloved, how great this solemnity is, that commemorates the coming of God as a guest in our hearts. If some rich and powerful friend were to enter your home, you would quickly clean the entire house, for fear something there, might offend your friend’s eyes, when he entered. Let anyone then who is preparing his inner house for God, cleanse away the dirt of his evil deeds.
You see what Truth tells us – “We will come and make our home with him.” He does indeed enter the hearts of some but does not make His home there, because through repentance, they acquire respect for God but during a time of temptation, they forget that they have repented and so return to committing sins, as if they had never wept over them at all. The Lord comes into the heart and makes His home in one, who truly loves God and observes His commandments, since the love of His divine nature, so penetrates him that he does not turn away from it during times of temptation. That person loves truly, whose heart does not consent to be overcome by wicked pleasures… Hence the following clarification – “Whoever does not love me does not keep my words.” Dearly beloved, enter into yourselves and inquire if you truly love God. But let no-one believe the answer his heart gives in his own case, apart from the testimony of his works….St Pope Gregory the Great (540-604) Doctor of the Church Homilies on the Gospels no 30.
PRAYER – Lord, by Your grace, we are made one in mind and heart. Give us a love for what You command and a longing for what You promise, so that, amid this world’s changes, our hearts may be set on the world of lasting joy. May the angels and saints intercede for us and may our Mother, the Mother of God, be a constant assistant and guiding hand. We make our prayer, through our Lord Jesus Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God with You, forever and ever, amen.
Thought for the Day – 19 May – The Fifth Sunday of Easter, C
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another…. John 13:34
An excerpt from his Tractates on the Gospel of John, 65.
A new commandment I give you, that you love one another. This commandment that He is giving them is a new one, the Lord Jesus tells His disciples. Yet was it not contained in the Old Law, where it is written – you shall love your neighbour as yourself? Why does the Lord call it new when it is clearly so old? Or is the commandment new because it divests us of our former selves and clothes us with the new man? Love does indeed renew the man who hears, or rather obeys its command but, only that love which Jesus distinguished from a natural love, by the qualification – As I have loved you.
This is the kind of love that renews us. When we love as He loved us, we become new men, heirs of the new covenant and singers of the new song. My brothers, this was the love that even in bygone days renewed the holy men, the patriarchs and prophets of old. In later times it renewed the blessed apostles and now it is the turn of the Gentiles. From the entire human race throughout the world this love gathers together into one body a new people, to be the bride of God’s only Son. She is the bride of whom it is asked in the Song of Songs: Who is this who comes clothed in white? White indeed are her garments, for she has been made new and the source of her renewal, is none other, than this new commandment.
And so all her members make each other’s welfare their common care. When one member suffers, all the members suffer with him and if one member is glorified, all the rest rejoice. They hear and obey the Lord’s words – a new commandment I give you, that you love one another, not as men love one another for their own selfish ends, nor merely on account of their common humanity but because they are all gods and sons of the Most High. They love one another as God loves them, so that they may be brothers of His only Son. He will lead them to the goal that alone will satisfy them, where all their desires will be fulfilled. For when God is all in all, there will be nothing left to desire.
This love is the gift of the Lord who said – as I have loved you, you also must love one another. His object in loving us, then, was to enable us to love each other. By loving us Himself, our mighty head has linked us all together, as members of His own body, bound to one another by the tender bond of love.
One Minute Reflection – 19 May – The Fifth Sunday of Easter, C, Gospel: John 13:31-35
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another,
even as I have loved you, that you also love one another….“…John 13:34
REFLECTION – “For what do they love, those who love their neighbour with a pure, spiritual love, if not God? This is the love the Lord wants to distinguish from a purely natural affection when He adds: “As I have loved you”. What has He loved in us if not God? Not God as we possess Him now but as He wants us to possess Him where “God will be all in all.” Doctors love their patients because of the health they want to give them, not because of their sickness. “Love one another as I have loved you”. This is why He has loved us – so that we, in our turn, might love one another.”…St Augustine (354-430) Doctor and Great Western Father of the Church – Sermons on Saint John’s Gospel, 65
PRAYER – Almighty God and Father, Your ways are not our ways, teach us to willingly agree to them, for You know which way we should go. Help us to say “yes” always to Your plan and to render ourselves, as a sacrament of Your divine love to all we meet. Fill us with the grace to be Your tools, to bring glory to Your kingdom. Our Father, who art in heaven, may Your Will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Mary Mother of God, Mother of Faith, pray for us! Through our Our Lord Jesus Christ with You, in the union of the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.
Thought for the Day – 27 April – Friday of the Fourth Week of Easter C, – Gospel: John 14:1-6
“And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”...John 14:3
An excerpt from his Letter to the Corinthians
Beloved, Jesus Christ is our salvation, He is the high priest through whom we present our offerings and the Helper, who supports us in our weakness. Through Him, our gaze penetrates the heights of heaven and we see as in a mirror, the most holy face of God. Through Christ, the eyes of our hearts are opened and our weak and clouded understanding, reaches up toward the light. Through Him, the Lord God willed, that we should taste eternal knowledge, for Christ is the radiance of God’s glory and as much greater than the angels, as the name God has given Him is superior to theirs.
So then, my brothers, let us do battle with all our might, under His unerring command. Think of the men serving under our military commanders. How well disciplined they are! How readily and submissively they carry out orders! Not everyone can be a prefect, a tribune, a centurion, or a captain of fifty but each man, in his own rank, executes the orders of the emperor and the officers in command. The great, cannot exist, without those of humble condition, nor can those of humble condition, exist without the great. Always, it is the harmonious working together, of its various parts, that insures the well-being of the whole. Take our own body as an example – the head is helpless without the feet and the feet can do nothing without the heart. Even our least important members, are useful and necessary, to the whole body and all work together for its well-being in harmonious subordination.
Let us, then, preserve the unity of the body that we form in Christ Jesus and let everyone give his neighbour the deference, to which his particular gifts, entitle him. Let the strong care for the weak and the weak respect the strong. Let the wealthy assist the poor and the poor man thank God for giving him someone to supply his needs. The wise man should show his wisdom, not by his eloquence but by good works, the humble man should not proclaim his own humility but leave others to do so, nor must the man who preserves his chastity, ever boast of it but recognise that the ability to control his desires has been given him by another.
Think, my brothers, of how we first came into being, of what we were at the first moment of our existence. Think of the dark tomb, out of which our Creator brought us into His world, where He had His gifts prepared for us, even before we were born. All this we owe to Him and for everything, we must give Him thanks. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen
One Minute Reflection – 14 May – Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter, C, First Reading: Acts of the Apostles 1:15-17.20-26. and the Feast of St Matthias, Apostle of Christ
“During those days Peter stood up in the midst of the brothers and spoke.”…Acts 1:15
REFLECTION – “Because he is fervent and is the senior member of the group, he is always the first to speak: “My brothers, it is necessary we choose one of the men who accompanied us.” Note how he wants these new apostles to be eyewitnesses. No doubt, the Holy Spirit would come and yet Peter placed a great deal of importance on this point – “One of the men who accompanied us the whole time the Lord Jesus came and went among us” (v.21). He indicates that they must have lived with Him and not just been disciples. For in fact, in the beginning, many people followed Him… “Until the day when he was taken up from us. He must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” (v.22)
Peter did not say: “a witness to everything else” but only – “a witness to his resurrection.” For a disciple who could say, “Someone who ate and drank and was crucified was the same who was raised” would be more worthy of credence. Therefore,it was not necessary that he should be a witness to the times beforehand, nor to those that followed, nor to the miracles. What was required of him was that he should be a witness to the resurrection. Everything else had been manifest and proclaimed, whereas the resurrection took place in secret. It was manifested only to a few.”…St John Chrysostom (345-407) Bishop of Constantinople, Doctor of the Church – 3rd sermon on the Acts of the apostles ; PG 60, 33 (trans. breviary 14/05)
PRAYER – Lord God, You chose St Matthias to complete the number of the twelve. By his prayer, include us among Your chosen ones, since we rejoice to see that the lot marked out for us, is in Your Love. Through Jesus the Christ, our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God now and forever, amen.
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
One Minute Reflection – 13 May – Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter, C – Gospel: John 10:1-10 and the 102nd Memorial of Our Lady of Fatima
“… the sheep hear his voice and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”…John 10:3
REFLECTION – “The mark of Christ’s sheep is their willingness to hear and obey, just as disobedience is the mark of those who are not His.
We take the word ‘hear’ to imply obedience to what has been said. People who hear God are known by Him. No-one is entirely unknown by God but to be known in this way, is to become part of His family.
Therefore, when Christ says, “I know mine,” He means I will receive them and give them a permanent mystical relationship with Myself.
It might be said that inasmuch as He has become man, He has made all human beings His relatives, since all are members of the same race. We are all united to Christ in a mystical relationship because of His incarnation. Yet those who do not preserve the likeness of His holiness are alienated from Him. “My sheep follow me,” says Christ. By a certain God-given grace, believers follow in the footsteps of Christ. No longer subject to the shadows of the law, they obey the commands of Christ and guided by His words, rise through grace, to His own dignity, for they are called “children of God.”
When Christ ascends into heaven, they also follow Him.”… St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444) Father & Doctor of the Church (Commentary on the Gospel of John)
PRAYER – Almighty God and Father, You have rescued Your faithful from enslavement to sin, by Your Son’s self-abasement. You have raised up the world through His suffering. Fill us now with holy joy at His rising and triumph. Let us hear His voice and follow Him to everlasting life. Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us! Through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God now and forever, amen.
Thought for the Day – 12 May – The Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year C
An excerpt from his First Apology in the Defence of Christians
No one may share the Eucharist with us, unless he believes that what we teach is true, unless he is washed in the regenerating waters of baptism for the remission of his sins, and unless he lives in accordance with the principles given us by Christ.
We do not consume the Eucharistic bread and wine as if it were ordinary food and drink, for we have been taught, that as Jesus Christ our Saviour became a man of flesh and blood by the power of the Word of God, so also the food, that our flesh and blood assimilates for its nourishment, becomes the flesh and blood of the incarnate Jesus, by the power of His own words, contained in the prayer of thanksgiving.
The apostles, in their recollections, which are called gospels, handed down to us what Jesus commanded them to do. They tell us that He took bread, gave thanks and said – Do this in memory of me. This is my body. In the same way He took the cup, He gave thanks and said – This is my blood. The Lord gave this command to them alone. Ever since then, we have constantly reminded one another of these things. The rich among us help the poor and we are always united. For all that we receive, we praise the Creator of the universe through His Son Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit.
On Sunday, we have a common assembly of all our members, whether they live in the city or the outlying districts. The recollections of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as there is time. When the reader has finished, the president of the assembly speaks to us, he urges everyone to imitate the examples of virtue we have heard in the readings. Then we all stand up together and pray.
On the conclusion of our prayer, bread and wine and water are brought forward. The president offers prayers and gives thanks to the best of his ability and the people give assent by saying, “Amen.” The Eucharist is distributed, everyone present communicates and the deacons take it to those who are absent.
The wealthy, if they wish, may make a contribution and they themselves decide the amount. The collection is placed in the custody of the president, who uses it to help the orphans and widows and all who for any reason are in distress, whether because they are sick, in prison, or away from home. In a word, he takes care of all who are in need.
We hold our common assembly on Sunday because it is the first day of the week, the day on which God put darkness and chaos to flight and created the world and because on that same day, our savioUr Jesus Christ rose from the dead. For He was crucified on Friday and on Sunday He appeared to His apostles and disciples and taught them the things, that we have passed on for your consideration.
One Minute Reflection – 2 May – The Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year C, Gospel: John 10:27-30 – Good Shepherd/Vocations Sunday
“I give them eternal life”...John 10:27
REFLECTION – “The Lord says: “My sheep hear my voice, I know them and they follow me; I give them eternal life”. A little earlier He said to them: “Anyone who enters by me will be saved, he will go in ou, and will find pasture”. (Jn 10:9) He will go into faith, he will go out from faith to vision, from belief to contemplation, will find pasture in eternal refreshment.
The Good Shepherd’s sheep will pasture because whoever follows Him with a guileless heart is nourished with a food of eternal freshness. What are the pastures of these sheep but the eternal joys of an evergreen paradise? The pasture of the elect, is the face of God always before us. When we see Him perfectly, our hearts are endlessly satisfied with the food of life…
Let us seek these pastures, dearly beloved! There we may enjoy the celebration of so many citizens. Let the festival of those who rejoice attract us… Let us enkindle our hearts, my friends, let our faith grow warm again for what it believes, let our desire for heavenly things take fire. To love thus, is to be already on the way. Let no adversity recall us from the joy of inner festivity, no difficulty on his journey, alters the desire, of a person wanting to go to some particular place. Let no seductive good fortune lead us astray, he is a foolish traveller who sees pleasant meadows on his journey and forgets where he is going.”… St Pope Gregory the Great (540-604) Father & Doctor of the Church – Homilies on the Gospel, no15[14]
PRAYER – Almighty, ever-living God, bring us to the joy of Your heavenly city, so that we, Your little flock, may follow where Christ, our Good Shepherd, has gone before us, by the power of His Resurrection. May the prayers of the Blessed Virgin, guide us, that we may always follow our Shepherd and thus reach our heavenly home, to praise Him forever. We make our prayer through Christ, our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God now and for all eternity, amen.
One Minute Reflection – 10 May – and Friday of the Third Week of Easter, C, First Reading: Acts 9:1-20 and the Memorial of Blessed Ivan Merz (1896-1928)
“He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”…Acts 9:4
REFLECTION – “How can we show that He is there and that He is also here? Let Paul answer for us, who was previously Saul. First of all, the Lord’s own voice from heaven shows this: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Had Paul climbed up to heaven then? Had Paul even thrown a stone at heaven? It was Christians he was persecuting, them he was tying up, them he was dragging off to be put to death, them he was everywhere hunting out of their hiding places and never sparing when he found them. To him the Lord said, “Saul, Saul.” Where is He crying out from? Heaven. So He’s up above. “Why are you persecuting me?” So He’s down below.”…St Augustine (354-430) Bishop of Hippo, Father & Doctor (Sermon 122)
PRAYER – Almighty God, You sent Your Son and we have now come to know the grace of His Resurrection. Through Him we live and move and have our being. As we follow Him, He walks with us and leads us to You. Grant we pray, that His mother and ours, may guide our way to Him and may the prayers of Blessed Ivan Merz, who always followed closely behind the Lord, be a solace in our trials. Through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God now and forever, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 10 May – “Mary’s Month” and Friday Third Week of Easter, C
Hail, O Mary, Mother of God
By St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444)
Father & Doctor of the Church
Hail, O Mary, Mother of God,
Virgin and Mother!
Morning Star, perfect vessel.
Hail, O Mary, Mother of God,
Holy Temple in which god Himself was conceived.
Hail, O Mary, Mother of God,
Chaste and pure dove.
Hail, O Mary, Mother of God,
Who enclosed the One who cannot be encompassed
in your sacred womb.
Hail, O Mary, Mother of God,
From you flowed the true light, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Hail, O Mary, Mother of God,
Through you the Conqueror
and triumphant Vanquisher of hell came to us.
Hail, O Mary, Mother of God,
Through you, the glory of the Resurrection blossoms.
Hail, O Mary, Mother of God,
You have saved every faithful Christian.
Hail, O Mary, Mother of God,
Pray for us sinners now
and at the hour of our death.
Amen
Thought for the Day – 9 May – Thursday Third Week of Easter, C
An excerpt from a Against Heresies
If our flesh is not saved, then the Lord has not redeemed us with His blood, the Eucharistic chalice does not make us sharers in His blood and the bread we break, does not make us sharers in His body. There can be no blood without veins, flesh and the rest of the human substance and this the Word of God actually became – it was with His own blood that He redeemed us. As the Apostle says – In Him, through His blood, we have been redeemed, our sins have been forgiven.
We are His members and we are nourished by creatures, which is His gift to us, for it is He who causes the sun to rise and the rain to fall. He declared that the chalice, which comes from His creation, was His blood and He makes it the nourishment of our blood. He affirmed that the bread, which comes from His creation, was His body and He makes it, the nourishment of our body. When the chalice we mix and the bread we bake, receive the Word of God, the Eucharistic elements become the body and blood of Christ, by which our bodies, live and grow. How then can it be said, that flesh belonging to the Lord’s own body and nourished by His body and blood, is incapable of receiving God’s gift of eternal life? Saint Paul says in his letter to the Ephesians that we are members of His body, of His flesh and bones. He is not speaking of some spiritual and incorporeal kind of man, for spirits do not have flesh and bones. He is speaking of a real human body composed of flesh, sinews and bones, nourished by the chalice of Christ’s blood and receiving growth from the bread which is His body.
The slip of a vine planted in the ground bears fruit at the proper time. The grain of wheat falls into the ground and decays only to be raised up again and multiplied by the Spirit of God who sustains all things. The Wisdom of God places these things at the service of man and when they receive God’s word, they become the Eucharist, which is the body and blood of Christ. In the same way our bodies, which have been nourished by the Eucharist, will be buried in the earth and will decay but they will rise again at the appointed time, for the Word of God will raise them up, to the glory of God the Father. Then the Father will clothe our mortal nature in immortality and freely endow our corruptible nature with incorruptibility, for God’s power is shown most perfectly in weakness.
One Minute Reflection – 9 May – Thursday Third Week of Easter, C, First Reading: Acts 8:26–40
“… and was returning home. Seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah.”…Acts 8:28
REFLECTION – “Consider, I ask you, what a great effort it was not to neglect reading even while on a journey and, especially, while seated in a chariot. Let this be heeded by those people who do not even deign to do it at home but rather think reading the Scriptures is a waste of time, claiming as an excuse their living with a wife, conscription in military service, caring for children, attending to domestics and looking after other concerns, they do not think it necessary for them to show any interest in reading the holy Scriptures.” … St John Chrysostom (347-407) Father & Doctor (Homilies on Genesis, 35.)
PRAYER – Almighty, ever-living God, in Your Word, You shed the light of Your glory on the peoples who are living in the shadow of death. By Your Word, You teach us all things and lead us in the way of hope and love. For Your Word is Truth and Your Word became flesh and filled our world with the Sun of Justice, Your Son, He who is the Sun and the Truth. May our steps be guided by His Mother, as we follow in the footsteps of Your Word and may the prayers of Blessed Maria Carmen Rendiles, be a help in our trials. Through Christ, our Lord Jesus, with You in union with the Holy Spirit, now and forever, amen.
Marian Thoughts – 5 May – “Mary’s Month!”
From the Sermons of St Sophronius (560-638) Father of the Church
(St Sophronius was a courageous leader of the Jerusalem Church during the Islamic conquests of the seventh century, Bishop Saint Sophronius I has his liturgical memorial on 11 March).
‘Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you.’ Could anything transcend the joy that is yours, O Virgin Mother? Could anything surpass this race granted by God to you alone? Is it possible to think of anything more gratifying and more splendid? Nothing can even approach the marvel that we see in you. All things lie far below the grace that is yours; in comparison, even the best of them take second place and their brilliance is overshadowed.
‘The Lord is with you’ and who has dared to strive against you? God has been born of you, who would stand in your way and not gladly give you first place and supremacy? For this reason, when I contemplate the privileges that put you above all creatures I cry out to you in highest praise. ‘Hail O favoured one, the Lord is with you.’ The joy that comes from you is shared not only by mankind but also by the powers of heaven.
Truly, ‘you are blessed among women’ for you have changed the condemnation of Eve into a blessing. Because of you, and through you, Adam who hitherto was cast down and condemned received a blessing.
Truly, ‘you are blessed among women’ for through you the blessing of the Father came to mankind and reprieved them from the age-old sentence.
Truly, ‘you are blessed among women’, because through you, your ancestors found salvation. You were to give birth to the Saviour who would win for them God’s salvation.
Truly, ‘you are blessed among women’ for without the seed of man you bore the fruit that gives a blessing to the whole earth and frees it from being condemned to produce only thorns.
Truly, ‘you are blessed among women’, for though you are a woman like any other woman you will in actual fact become the Mother of God. If the one to be born of you, is in truth God incarnate, you rightly deserve to be called ‘she who gave birth to God’, inasmuch, as you truly did give birth to God.
You have God enclosed within your womb. He lives in you according to the flesh and comes forth from you like a bridegroom, giving joy to all and sharing His divine light with all mankind.
In you, O Virgin, as in the clear brightness of heaven, God ‘has placed his tent’ and He ‘will come forth from you like a bridegroom from his chamber’. Like a giant He will run the course of His life to bring salvation to all living things. That course ‘will stretch from one end of the heavens to the other’ filling all things with the life-giving warmth of God’s radiance.
From the Little Office of Mary
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Marian Thoughts – 7 May – ‘May, Mary’s Month’
Gracious Lady,
you are a mother and virgin,
you are the mother
of the body and soul
of our Head and Redeemer,
you are also truly mother
of all the members of Christ’s Mystical Body.
For through your love,
you have co-operated
in the begetting of the faithful in the Church.
Unique among women,
you are mother and virgin,
mother of Christ and virgin of Christ.
You are the beauty and charm of earth, O Virgin.
You are, forever, the image of the holy Church.
Through a woman came death,
through a woman came life,
yes, through you, O Mother of God.
==========
Thought for the Day – 7 May – Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter, C, Gospel: John 6:30–35
An excerpt from Sermon 34
Sing to the Lord a new song, His praise is in the assembly of the saints. We are urged to sing a new song to the Lord, as new men who have learned a new song. A song is a thing of joy, more profoundly, it is a thing of love. Anyone, therefore, who has learned to love the new life has learned to sing a new song and the new song reminds us of our new life. The new man, the new song, the new covenant, all belong to the one kingdom of Go, and so, the new man will sing a new song and will belong to the new covenant.
There is not one who does not love something but the question is, what to love. The psalms do not tell us not to love but to choose the object of our love. But how can we choose unless we are first chosen? We cannot love unless someone has loved us first. Listen to the apostle John – We love him, because he first loved us. The source of man’s love for God can only be found in the fact that God loved him first. He has given us Himself as the object of our love and He has also given us its source. What this source is you may learn more clearly from the apostle Paul who tells us: The love of God has been poured into our hearts. This love is not something we generate ourselves, it comes to us through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Since we have such an assurance, then, let us love God with the love He has given us. As John tells us more fully: God is love, and whoever dwells in love dwells in God and God in him. It is not enough to say, Love is from God. Which of us would dare to pronounce the words of Scripture – God is love? He alone could say it who knew what it was to have God dwelling within Him. God offers us a short route to the possession of Himself. He cries out – Love Me and you will have Me for you would be unable to love Me if you did not possess Me already.
My dear brothers and sons, fruit of the true faith and holy seed of heaven, all you who have been born again in Christ and whose life is from above, listen to me, or rather, listen to the Holy Spirit, saying through me – Sing to the Lord a new song. Look, you tell me, I am singing. Yes indeed, you are singing, you are singing clearly, I can hear you. But make sure that your life does not contradict your words . Sing with your voices, your hearts, your lips and your lives – Sing to the Lord a new song.
Now it is your unquestioned desire to sing of Him whom you love but you ask me how to sing His praises. You have heard the words: Sing to the Lord a new song and you wish to know what praises to sing. The answer is: His praise is in the assembly of the saints, it is in the singers themselves. If you desire to praise Him, then live what you express. Live good lives and you yourselves will be His praise. 
AnaStpaul 
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