Category: LENT

Posted in CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, CONFESSION, CONFESSION/PENANCE, GOD ALONE!, LENT 2021, LENTEN THOUGHTS, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on TEMPTATION, QUOTES on VIRTUE, The WORD, Thomas a Kempis

Day Twenty-eighth of our Lenten Journey – ‘… Despise the world and seek to live for God… ‘

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Day Twenty-eighth of our Lenten Journey – Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent, Readings: Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12, Psalms 46:2-3, 5-6,8-9, John 5:1-16

Imitating Christ with Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)

In You is the source of life
and in Your Light Lord, we see light
Psalm 35(36)

“Do you wish to be healed?” – John 5:6

I WILL bring witness against myself to my injustice and to You, O Lord, I will confess my weakness.

Often it is a small thing that makes me downcast and sad. I propose to act bravely but when even a small temptation comes, I find myself in great straits. Sometimes, it is the merest trifle which gives rise to grievous temptations. When I think myself somewhat safe and when I am not expecting it, I frequently find myself almost overcome by a slight wind. Look, therefore, Lord, at my lowliness and frailty, which You know so well. Have mercy on me and snatch me out of the mire, that I may not be caught in it and may not remain forever utterly despondent.

That I am so prone to fall and so weak in resisting my passions, oppresses me frequently and confounds me, in Your sight. While I do not fully consent to them, still their assault is very troublesome and grievous to me and it wearies me exceedingly, thus to live in daily strife. Yet from the fact that abominable fancies rush in upon me, much more easily than they leave, my weakness becomes clear to me.

Oh that You, most mighty God of Israel, zealous Lover of faithful souls, would consider the labour and sorrow of Your servant and assist him in all his undertakings! Strengthen me with heavenly courage, lest the outer man, the miserable flesh, against which I shall be obliged to fight, so long as I draw a breathw, in this wretched life and which is not yet subjected to the spirit, prevail and dominate me.

Alas! What sort of life is this, from which troubles and miseries are never absent, where all things are full of snares and enemies? For when one trouble or temptation leaves, another comes. Indeed, even while the first conflict is still raging, many others begin unexpectedly. How is it possible to love a life that has such great bitterness, that is subject to so many calamities and miseries? Indeed, how can it even be called life, when it begets so many deaths and plagues? And yet, it is loved and many seek their delight in it.

Many persons often blame the world for being false and vain, yet do not readily give it up because the desires of the flesh have such great power. Some things draw them to love the world, others make them despise it. The lust of the flesh, the desire of the eyes and the pride of life lead to love, while the pains and miseries, which are the just consequences of those things, beget hatred and weariness of the world.

Vicious pleasure overcomes the soul that is given to the world. She thinks that there are delights beneath these thorns because she has never seen or tasted the sweetness of God or the internal delight of virtue. They, on the other hand, who entirely despise the world and seek to live for God, under the rule of holy discipline, are not ignorant of the divine sweetness, promised to those who truly renounce the world. They see clearly how gravely the world errs and in how many ways it deceives.
(Book 3 Ch 20)

Posted in CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, HYMNS, LENT 2021, LENTEN PRAYERS & NOVENAS, PRAYERS for VARIOUS NEEDS, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, The PASSION

Our Morning Offering – 16 March – God of Mercy and Compassion

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Our Morning Offering – 16 March – Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

God of Mercy and Compassion
By Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-1736)
Composer

God of mercy and compassion,
Look with pity upon me,
Father, let me call Thee Father,
‘Tis Thy child returns to Thee.

Refrain:
Jesus, Lord, I ask for mercy.
Let me not implore in vain,
All my sins, I now detest them,
Never will I sin again.

By my sins I have deserved
Death and endless misery,
Hell with all its pains and torments,
And for all eternity.
(Refrain)

By my sins I have abandoned
Right and claim to heav’n above.
Where the saints rejoice forever
In a boundless sea of love.
(Refrain)

See our Saviour, bleeding, dying,
On the cross of Calvary;
To that cross my sins have nail’d Him,
Yet He bleeds and dies for me.
(Refrain)

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi 4 January 1710 – 16 or 17 March 1736 was an Italian Baroque composer, violinist and organist. His best-known works include his Stabat Mater and the opera La serva padrona (The Maid Turned Mistress). His compositions include operas and sacred Masses and music. He died of tuberculosis at the age of 26.

Posted in CHRIST the LIGHT, I BELIEVE!, LENT 2021, LENTEN THOUGHTS, QUOTES on FAITH, The FAITHFUL on PILGRIMAGE, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The WORD, Thomas a Kempis

Day Twenty Seven of our Lenten Journey – 15 March – ‘God does not deceive you …’

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Day Twenty Seven of our Lenten Journey – 15 March – Monday of the Fourth week of Lent, Readings: Isaiah 65:17-21, Psalms 30:2 and 4, 5-6, 11-12 and 13, John 4:43-54

Imitating Christ with Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)

In You is the source of life
and in Your Light Lord, we see light
Psalm 35(36)

“Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” … John 4:48

“Whoever examines the majesty of God will be crushed by His glory” (Prv 25:27 Vg).
God can do works that pass man’s understanding. …
Faith is required of you and sincerity of life, not high intelligence, nor penetrating knowledge of the mysteries of God.
If you do not understand nor grasp what is below you, how will you comprehend what is above you?
Be subject to God, submit your feeling to the faith and the light of knowledge will be given to you, as much as you need and can use.

Some have grave temptations concerning faith in the Blessed Sacrament, which are not to be imputed to them but rather, to the enemy.
Take no notice, do not argue with your thoughts, nor answer the doubts with which the devil attacks you, believe God’s word, believe His saints and prophets and the wicked enemy will be routed.
It is often most profitable to God’s servant to endure such things.
For the devil does not tempt the infidel or sinner, of whom he has already secure possession but, he uses various means to tempt and harass the devout faithful.

Go on then, with simple unquestioning faith and approach the Sacrament with reverent beseeching.
Anything you cannot understand, commit it surely to God who is omnipotent.
God does not deceive you, the over-confident person deceives himself.
God walks in step with the simple ones, He shows Himself to the humble ones, He grants understanding to the little ones, “He reveals hidden meanings to little ones” and hides away His grace from the inquisitive and the proud.
Human reason is feeble and fallible but true faith cannot be deceived.
All use of reason, all human inquiry should walk in the footsteps of faith, it should not go on, in front of it, nor call it in question.
(Book4 Ch 18)

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, DOMINICAN OP, LENTEN PRAYERS & NOVENAS, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS for VARIOUS NEEDS, PRAYERS of the SAINTS

Our Morning Offering – 15 March – O Merciful God By St Thomas Aquinas

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Our Morning Offering – 15 March – Monday of the Fourth week of Lent

O Merciful God
By St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
Doctor Angelicus
Doctor Communis

O merciful God,
grant that I may ever perfectly
do Thy Will in all things.
Let it be my ambition to work
only for Thy honour and glory.
Let me rejoice in nothing
but that which leads to Thee,
nor grieve for anything,
which leads away from Thee.
May all passing things be as nothing in my eyes
and may all which is Thine be dear to me
and Thou, my God, dear above them all.
May all joy be meaningless without Thee
and may I desire nothing apart from Thee.
May all labour and toil delight me, when it is for Thee.
Make me, O Lord, obedient without complaint,
poor without regret,
patient without murmur,
humble without pretence,
joyous without frivolity,
and truthful without disguise.
Amen

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOD is LOVE, JULY - The MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD, LENT 2021, LENTEN PRAYERS & NOVENAS, LENTEN THOUGHTS, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, The HEART, The HOLY CROSS, The INCARNATION, The MOST HOLY REDEEMER, Our SAVIOUR, The MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD, The PASSION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – – 14 March – For God so loved the world … John 3:14-21

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One Minute Reflection – – 14 March – Laetare Sunday, Readings: 2 Chronicles 36:14-16, 19-23, Psalms 137:1-2, 3,4-5, 6, Ephesians 2:4-10, John 3:14-21

“And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life…” – John 3:14-15

REFLECTION – “Let us praise the Son first of all, venerating the blood that expiated our sins. He lost nothing of His divinity when He saved me, when like a good physician He stooped to my festering wounds.
He was a mortal man but He was also God. He was of the race of David but Adam’s creator.
He who has no body clothed Himself with flesh. He had a mother who, nonetheless, was a virgin.
He who is without bounds, bound Himself with the cords of our humanity. He was victim and high priest—yet He was God.
He offered up His blood and cleansed the whole world.
He was lifted up on the cross but it was sin, that was nailed to it.
He became as one, among the dead but He rose from the dead, raising to life also many who had died before Him.
On the one hand, there was the poverty of His humanity, on the other, the riches of His divinity.
Do not let what is human in the Son permit you, wrongfully, to detract from what is divine. For the sake of the divine, hold in the greatest honour, the humanity, which the immortal Son took on Himself, for love of you!” – St Gregory of Nazianzen (330-390) Archbishop of Constantinople, Father & Doctor – Poem 2

PRAYER – “All-powerful God, Benefactor and Creator of the universe,
hearken to my groaning in my peril.
Deliver me from fear and anguish,
free me, by the strength of Your might, You who can do all…
O Lord Christ, cut the threads of my net
with the sword of Your triumphant Cross, with the weapon of life.
This net encompasses me on every side,
holding me captive so as to bring me to my death.
Guide to their rest, my tottering and unsteady steps,
heal the stifling fever of my heart.” – St Gregory of Narek (c 951-c 1010)
Doctor of the Church – Book of prayers, no 40 (Excerpt)

Posted in CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, LENTEN PRAYERS & NOVENAS, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, PRAYERS of the SAINTS

Our Morning offering – 14 March – My Lord and my God

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Our Morning offering – 14 March – Laetare Sunday

My Lord and my God
By St Nicholas of Flue (1417-1487)

My Lord and my God,
take from me everything
which distances me from Thee.
My Lord and my God,
give me everything
which brings me closer to Thee.
My Lord and my God,
detach me from myself,
to give my all to Thee.
Amen

Posted in DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, LENT 2021, LENTEN THOUGHTS, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on Lukewarmness, QUOTES on PRIDE, The WORD, Thomas a Kempis

Day Twenty Five of our Lenten Journey – 13 March – ‘How very little should I esteem anything that seems good in me!’

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Day Twenty Five of our Lenten Journey – 13 March – Saturday of the Third Week of Lent, Readings: Hosea 6: 1-6, Psalms 51:3-4, 18-19, 20-21, Luke 18: 9-14

Imitating Christ with Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)

In You is the source of life
and in Your Light Lord, we see light
Psalm 35(36)

‘O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.’ – Luke 18:13

YOU thunder forth Your judgements over me, Lord.
You shake all my bones with fear and trembling and my soul is very much afraid.
I stand in awe as I consider that the heavens are not pure in Your sight.
If You found wickedness in the angels and did not spare them, what will become of me? Stars have fallen from heaven, and I — I who am but dust — how can I be presumptuous? They whose deeds seemed worthy of praise have fallen into the depths and I have seen those who ate the bread of angels delighting themselves with the husks of swine.

There is no holiness, then, if You withdraw Your hand, Lord.
There is no wisdom if You cease to guide, no courage if You cease to defend.
No chastity is secure if You do not guard it.
Our vigilance avails nothing if Your holy watchfulness does not protect us.
Left to ourselves, we sink and perish but visited by You, we are lifted up and live.
We are truly unstable but You make us strong.
We grow lukewarm but You inflame us.
Oh, how humbly and lowly should I consider myself!
How very little should I esteem anything, that seems good in me!
How profoundly should I submit to Your unfathomable judgments, Lord, where I find myself to be but nothing!

O immeasurable weight!
O impassable sea, where I find myself to be nothing but bare nothingness!
Where, then, is glory’s hiding place?
Where can there be any trust in my own virtue?
All vainglory is swallowed up in the depths of Your judgments upon me.

What is all flesh in Your sight?
Shall the clay glory against Him that formed it?
How can he, whose heart is truly subject to God, be lifted up by vainglory?
The whole world will not make him proud, whom Truth has subjected to itself.
Nor shall he who has placed all his hope in God, be moved by the tongues of flatterers. For behold, even they who speak are nothing, they will pass away with the sound of their words but the truth of the Lord, remains forever.
(Book 3 Ch 12)

Posted in LENTEN PRAYERS & NOVENAS, MARIAN PRAYERS, MATER DOLOROSA - Mother of SORROWS, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS for VARIOUS NEEDS

Our Morning Offering – 13 March – Mother of Sorrows, of Love, of Mercy

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Our Morning Offering – 13 March – Saturday of the Third week of Lent

Mother of Sorrows, of Love, of Mercy
By Fr Lawrence Lovasik SVD (1913-1986)

Mary, most holy Virgin and Queen of Martyrs,
accept the sincere homage of my childlike love.
Into your heart, pierced by so many sorrows,
welcome my poor soul.
Receive it as the companion of your sorrows
at the foot of the Cross, on which Jesus
died for the redemption of the world.
Sorrowful Virgin, with you,
I will gladly suffer all the trials,
misunderstandings and pains
which it shall please our Lord to send me.
I offer them all to you in memory of your sorrows,
so that every thought of my mind
and every beat of my heart,
may be an act of compassion and of love for you.
Loving Mother, have pity on me,
reconcile me to your Divine Son Jesus,
keep me in His grace and assist me
in my last agony,
so that I may be able to meet you in heaven
and sing your glories.
Mary, most sorrowful Mother of Christians,
pray for us.
Mother of love, of sorrow
and of mercy, pray for us!
Amen. Amen!

Posted in LENT 2021, LENTEN THOUGHTS, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, The WORD, Thomas a Kempis

Day Twenty Four of our Lenten Journey – 12 March – ‘… Let Him be your special love.’

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Day Twenty Four of our Lenten Journey – 12 March – Friday of the Third Week of Lent, Readings: Hosea 14: 2-10, Psalms 81: 6-8, 8-9, 10-11, 14 and 17, Mark 12:28-34

Imitating Christ with Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)

In You is the source of life
and in Your Light Lord, we see light
Psalm 35(36)

“You shall love the Lord your God
with ALL your heart” – Mark 12:30

When Jesus is near, all is well and nothing seems difficult.
When He is absent, all is hard.

When Jesus does not speak within, all other comfort is empty.
But if He says only a word, it brings great consolation.

[…] How dry and hard you are without Jesus!
How foolish and vain if you desire anything but Him!
Is it not a greater loss than losing the whole world?
For what, without Jesus, can the world give you?
Life without Him, is a relentless hell but living with Him, is a sweet paradise.
If Jesus be with you, no enemy can harm you.

He who finds Jesus, finds a rare treasure, indeed, a good above every good, whereas he who loses Him, loses more than the whole world.
The man who lives without Jesus, is the poorest of the poor, whereas no-one is so rich, as the man who lives in His grace.

It is a great art to know how to converse with Jesus and great wisdom, to know how to keep Him.
Be humble and peaceful and Jesus will be with you.
Be devout and calm and He will remain with you.

[…] You cannot live well without a friend and if Jesus be not your friend, above all else, you will be very sad and desolate.
Thus, you are acting foolishly, if you trust or rejoice in any other.

Choose the opposition of the whole world, rather than offend Jesus.
Of all those who are dear to you, let Him be your special love.

Let all things be loved, for the sake of Jesus but Jesus, for His own sake.

[…] Never wish that anyone’s affection be centred in you, nor let yourself be taken up with the love of anyone but, let Jesus be in you and in every good man.
Be pure and free within, unentangled with any creature.

You must bring to God, a clean and open heart, if you wish to attend and see how sweet the Lord is.
Truly you will never attain this happiness, unless His grace prepares you and draws you on, so that you may forsake all things to be united with Him alone.
When the grace of God comes to a man, he can do all things but when it leaves him, he becomes poor and weak, abandoned, as it were, to affliction.
Yet, in this condition he should not become dejected or despair.
On the contrary, he should calmly await the will of God and bear whatever befalls him in praise of Jesus Christ.

For after winter comes summer, after night, the day and after the storm, a great calm.
(Book 2 Ch 8)

Posted in GOD ALONE!, LENT 2021, LENTEN THOUGHTS, QUOTES on PEACE, The KINGDOM of GOD / HEAVEN, The WORD, Thomas a Kempis

Day Twenty three of our Lenten Journey – 11 March – When will You be all in all to me?

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Day Twenty three of our Lenten Journey – 11 March – Thursday of the Third Week of Lent, Readings: Jeremiah 7:23-28, Psalms 95:1-2, 6-7,8-9, Luke 11:14-23

Imitating Christ with Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)

In You is the source of life
and in Your Light Lord, we see light
Psalm 35(36)

“The kingdom of God has come upon you” – Luke 11:20

Oh, when will these evils end?
When shall I be freed from the miserable slavery of vice?
When, Lord, shall I think of You alone?
When shall I fully rejoice in You?
When shall I be without hindrance, in true liberty, free from every grievance of mind and body?
When will there be solid peace, undisturbed and secure, inward peace and outward peace, peace secured on every side?
O good Jesus, when shall I stand to gaze upon You?
When shall I contemplate the glory of Your kingdom?
When will You be all in all to me?
Oh, when shall I be with You in that kingdom of Yours, which You have prepared for Your beloved from all eternity?

Blessed is the man who for Your sake, O Lord, dismisses all creatures, does violence to nature, crucifies the desires of the flesh in fervour of spirit, so that with serene conscience he can offer You a pure prayer and, having excluded all earthly things, inwardly and outwardly, becomes worthy to enter into the heavenly choirs.
(Book 3 Ch 48:3)

Posted in franciscan OFM, LENTEN PRAYERS & NOVENAS, Our MORNING Offering, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, PRAYERS for VARIOUS NEEDS, The LAST THINGS

Our Morning offering – 11 March – Rescue Me, Most Merciful God

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Our Morning offering – 11 March – Thursday of the Third week of Lent

Rescue Me, Most Merciful God
By Father Martin von Cochem OSFC (c 1630-1712)

Most merciful God,
remember at how great a price
Thou didst purchase me
and how much Thou didst suffer for me.
For the sake of that inestimable price,
do not permit me to be lost,
rescue me,
number me amongst the sheep
of Thy fold.
With them, I will then
praise and magnify Thy loving kindness,
to all eternity.
Amen

Fr Martin von Cochem was a German Capuchin theologian, preacher and prolific ascetic writer.
Father Martin’s works embrace a great variety of subjects: a huge volume of apologetics against Protestantism, the life of Christ, lives of the Saints, edifying narratives, the setting forth of certain points in Christian asceticism, forms of prayer, methods to be followed for the worthy reception of the sacraments, etc.
The prayer above is from the renowned “The Four Last Things.”

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, LENT 2021, LENTEN THOUGHTS, QUOTES for CHRIST, The WILL of GOD, The WORD, Thomas a Kempis

Day Twenty two of our Lenten Journey – 10 March – Behold, I am Your servant, ready to obey in all things

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Day Twenty two of our Lenten Journey – 10 March – Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent, Readings: Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9, Psalms 147:12-13,15-16, 19-20, Matthew 5:17-19
Imitating Christ with Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)

In You is the source of life
and in Your Light Lord, we see light
Psalm 35(36)

“Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do the same,
will be called least in the kingdom of heaven
but whoever does them and teaches them,
will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 5:19

CHRIST: [Say] … “Behold, I am Your servant, ready to obey in all things.
Not for myself do I desire to live but for You — would that I could do this worthily and perfectly!”

DISCIPLE: Grant me Your grace, O most merciful Jesus, that it may be with me and work with me and remain with me to the very end.
Grant that I may always desire and will, that which is most acceptable and pleasing to You.
Let Your will be mine.
Let my will always follow Yours and agree perfectly with it.
Let my will be one with Yours in willing and in not willing and let me be unable to will or not will anything but what You will or do not will.
Grant that I may die to all things in this world and for Your sake, love to be despised and unknown in this life.
Give me above all desires the desire to rest in You and in You let my heart have peace.
You are true peace of heart.
You alone are its rest.
Without You all things are difficult and troubled.
In this peace, the selfsame that is in You, the Most High, the everlasting Good, I will sleep and take my rest.
Amen.
(Book 3 Ch 15:2-3;3-4)

Posted in "Follow Me", DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, LENT 2021, LENTEN THOUGHTS, QUOTES on FORGIVENESS, QUOTES on MERCY, The WORD, Thomas a Kempis

Day Twenty-one of our Lenten Journey – 9 March – Lord, how often will my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Matthew 18:21

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Day Twenty-one of our Lenten Journey – 9 March – The Third Sunday of Lent, Readings: Daniel 3:25, 34-43, Psalms 25:4-5, 6 and 7, 8 and 9, Matthew 18:21-35

Imitating Christ with Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)

In You is the source of life
and in Your Light Lord, we see light
Psalm 35(36)

“Lord, how often will my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” – Matthew 18:21

CHRIST: MY CHILD, stand firm and trust in Me. For what are words but words? They fly through the air but hurt not a stone.
If you are guilty, consider how you would gladly amend and repair the damage you have caused.
If you are not conscious of any fault, think that you wish to bear this for the sake of God. It is little enough for you occasionally to endure words, since you are not yet strong enough to bear hard blows.

And why do such small matters pierce you to the heart, unless because you are still carnal and pay more heed to men than you ought? You do not wish to be reproved for your faults and you seek shelter in excuses because you are afraid of being despised.
But look into yourself more thoroughly and you will learn that the world is still alive in you, in a vain desire to please men.
For when you shrink from being abased and confounded for your failings, it is plain indeed that you are not truly humble or truly dead to the world, and that the world is not crucified in you.

Listen to My word and you will not value ten thousand words of men. Behold, if every malicious thing that could possibly be invented were uttered against you, what harm could it do if you ignored it all and gave it no more thought than you would a blade of grass?
Could it so much as pluck one hair from your head?

He who does not keep his heart within him and who does not have God before his eyes, is easily moved by a word of disparagement.
He who trusts in Me, on the other hand and who has no desire to stand by his own judgement, will be free from the fear of men.
For I am the judge and discerner of all secrets.
I know how all things happen. I know who causes injury and who suffers it. From Me that word proceeded and with My permission it happened, that out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed.
I shall judge the guilty and the innocent but I have wished beforehand to try them both by secret judgement.

The testimony of man is often deceiving but My judgement is true — it will stand and not be overthrown. It is hidden from many and made known to but a few. Yet it is never mistaken and cannot be mistaken even though it does not seem right in the eyes of the unwise.

To Me, therefore, you ought to come in every decision, not depending on your own judgement.
For the just man will not be disturbed, no matter what may befall him from God. Even if an unjust charge be made against him he will not be much troubled. Neither will he exult vainly, if through others, he is justly acquitted.
He considers that it is I Who search the hearts and inmost thoughts of men, that I do not judge according to the face of things or human appearances.
For what the judgement of men considers praiseworthy, is often worthy of blame in My sight.

DISCIPLE: O Lord God, just Judge, strong and patient, You Who know the weakness and depravity of men, be my strength and all my confidence, for my own conscience is not sufficient for me.
You know what I do not know and, therefore, I ought to humble myself whenever I am accused and bear it meekly, forgiving them who utter such.

Forgive me, then, in Your mercy for my every failure in this regard and give me once more, the grace of greater endurance.
Better to me is Your abundant mercy in obtaining pardon, than the justice which I imagine in defending the secrets of my conscience.
And though, I am not conscious to myself of any fault, yet I cannot thereby justify myself because without Your mercy, no man living will be justified in Your sight.
(Book 3 Ch 46)

Posted in DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, FATHERS of the Church, LENTEN THOUGHTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on ALMS, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on FORGIVENESS, QUOTES on MERCY, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 9 March – ‘A poor man is begging from you and you are begging from God …’ Matthew 18:21-35

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One Minute Reflection – 9 March – Tuesday of the Third week of Lent, Readings: Daniel 3:25, 34-43, Psalms 25:4-5, 6 and 7, 8 and 9, Matthew 18:21-35 and the Memorial of St Frances of Rome (1384-1440)

“Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?” …Matthew 18:33

REFLECTION – “What is human mercy like? It makes you concerned for the hardship of the poor. What is divine mercy like? It forgives sinners…
In this world God is cold and hungry in all the poor, as He Himself said (Mt 25:40)… What sort of people are we? When God gives, we want to receive, when He asks, we refuse to give? When a poor man is hungry, Christ is in need, as He said Himself: “I was hungry and you gave me no food” (v. 42). Take care not to despise the hardship of the poor, if you would hope, without fear, to have your sins forgiven…
What He receives on earth He returns in heaven.
I put you this question, dearly beloved – what is it you want, what is it you are looking for, when you come to Church? What indeed if not mercy? Show mercy on earth and you will receive mercy in heaven. A poor man is begging from you and you are begging from God, he asks for a scrap, you ask for eternal life… And so, when you come to Church, give whatever alms you can to the poo,r in accordance with your means.” – St Caesarius of Arles (470-543) Sermon 25

PRAYER – Infinite Lord, help me to serve You always in accord with Your holy will. Show us how to make You our Lord and our All. St Frances of Rome, you showed us all the way of holiness within the confines of our lives, always seeking to do the will of God and serve all His children, most especially those in need but remaining always true to the vows of your marriage. Please pray for us all, amen.

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOD the FATHER, LENTEN PRAYERS & NOVENAS, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES for CHRIST, The HEART

Our Morning Offering – 9 March – For the Sake of Your Only Son By St Augustine

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Our Morning Offering – 9 March – Tuesday of the Third week of Lent

Hear us, O Heavenly Father,
For the Sake of Your Only Son
By St Augustine (354-430)
Father and Doctor of the Church

Almighty Father, come into our hearts
and so fill us with Your love
that forsaking all evil desires,
we may embrace You, our only good.
Show us, O Lord our God, what You are to us.
Say to our souls, I am your salvation,
speak so, that we may hear.
Our hearts are before You,
open our ears,
let us hasten after Your Voice.
Hide not Your Face from us,
we beseech You, O Lord.
Open our hearts, so that You may enter in.
Repair the ruined mansions,
that You may dwell therein.
Hear us, O Heavenly Father,
for the sake of Your only Son,
Our Lord Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with You
and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen

Posted in "Follow Me", GOD ALONE!, LENT 2021, LENTEN THOUGHTS, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on JOY, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, QUOTES on SUFFERING, The WORD, Thomas a Kempis

Day Twenty of our Lenten Journey – 8 March – ‘Suffer with Christ and for Christ if you wish to reign with Him.’

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Day Twenty of our Lenten Journey – 8 March – The Third Sunday of Lent, Readings: 2 Kings 5:1-15, Psalm 42:2-3; 43:3-4, Luke 4:24-30

Imitating Christ with Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)

In You is the source of life
and in Your Light Lord, we see light
Psalm 35(36)

And they rose up and tdrove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff.– Luke 4:29

When Christ was in the world, He was despised by men.
In the hour of need He was forsaken by acquaintances and left by friends to the depths of scorn.
He was willing to suffer and to be despised. Do you dare to complain of anything?

He had enemies and defamers. Do you want everyone to be your friend, your benefactor?
How can your patience be rewarded if no adversity test it?
How can you be a friend of Christ if you are not willing to suffer any hardship?
Suffer with Christ and for Christ if you wish to reign with Him.

Had you but once entered into perfect communion with Jesus or tasted a little of His ardent love, you would care nothing at all for your own comfort or discomfort but would rejoice in the reproach you suffer.
For love of Him makes a man despise himself.

A man who is a lover of Jesus and of truth, a truly interior man who is free from uncontrolled affections, can turn to God at will and rise above himself to enjoy spiritual peace.
He who tastes life as it really is, not as men say or think it is, is indeed wise with the wisdom of God rather than of men.

He who learns to live the interior life and to take little account of outward things, does not seek special places or times to perform devout exercises.
A spiritual man quickly recollects himself because he has never wasted his attention upon externals.
No outside work, no business that cannot wait stands in his way. He adjusts himself to things as they happen.

He whose disposition is well ordered cares nothing about the strange, perverse behaviour of others, for a man is upset and distracted only in proportion as he engrosses himself in externals.
If all were well with you, therefore and, if you were purified from all sin, everything would tend to your good and be to your profit.
But because you are as yet neither entirely dead to self nor free from all earthly affection, there is much that often displeases and disturbs you.
Nothing so mars and defiles the heart of man as impure attachment to created things.

But if you refuse external consolation, you will be able to contemplate heavenly things and often to experience interior joy.
(Book 2 Ch 1)

Posted in LENTEN PRAYERS & NOVENAS, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS for SEASONS, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, The WILL of GOD, Thomas a Kempis

Our Morning Offering – 8 March – Only What You Will or Will Not

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Our Morning Offering – 8 March – Monday of the Third week of Lent

Only What You Will or Will Not
By Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)

Grant me Your grace,
most merciful Jesus,
so that it may be with me
and work with me
and persevere with me to the end.
Grant that I may always want
and desire that which is
most acceptable and pleasing to You.
Let Your will be mine
and let my will always follow Yours
and be in perfect accord with it.
Let me always will or not will,
the same with You
and may I not be able to will
or not will
anything, except
what You will or will not.
Amen

Posted in "Follow Me", GOD ALONE!, LENT 2021, LENTEN THOUGHTS, QUOTES on FREEDOM, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on MEDITATION, QUOTES on MORTIFICATION, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, The WORD, Thomas a Kempis

Day Nineteen of our Lenten Journey – 7 March – ‘ Who is more at rest, than he who aims at nothing but God?’

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Day Nineteen of our Lenten Journey – 7 March – The Third Sunday of Lent, Readings: Exodus 20:1-17, Psalms 19:8-11, 1 Corinthians 1:22-25, John 2:13-25

Imitating Christ with Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)

In You is the source of life
and in Your Light Lord, we see light
Psalm 35(36)

“Zeal for your house will consume me.” John 2:17

O LORD, I am in sore need still of greater grace, if I am to arrive at the point, where no man and no created thing can be an obstacle to me. For as long as anything holds me back, I cannot freely fly to You. He that said “Oh that I had wings like a dove, that I might fly away and be at rest!“(Ps 55:7) desired to fly freely to You. Who is more at rest, than he who aims at nothing but God? And who more free, than the man who desires nothing on earth?

It is well, then, to pass over all creation, perfectly to abandon self and to see in ecstasy of mind that You, the Creator of all, have no likeness among all Your creatures and that unless a man be freed from all creatures, he cannot attend freely to the Divine. The reason why so few contemplative persons are found, is that so few know how to separate themselves entirely from what is transitory and created.

For this, indeed, great grace is needed, grace that will raise the soul and lift it up above itself. Unless a man be elevated in spirit, free from all creatures and completely united to God, all his knowledge and possessions are of little moment. He who considers anything great except the one, immense, eternal good will long be little and lie groveling on the earth. Whatever is not God is nothing and must be accounted as nothing.

There is great difference between the wisdom of an enlightened and devout man and the learning of a well-read and brilliant scholar, for the knowledge which flows down from divine sources is much nobler than that laboriously acquired by human industry.

Many there are, who desire contemplation but, who do not care to do the things, which contemplation requires. It is also a great obstacle to be satisfied with externals and sensible things and to have so little of perfect mortification. I know not what it is, or by what spirit we are led, or to what we pretend — we who wish to be called spiritual — that we spend so much labour and even more anxiety on things that are transitory and mean, while we seldom or never advert with full consciousness to our interior concerns.

Alas, after very little meditation we falter, not weighing our deeds by strict examination. We pay no attention to where our affections lie, nor do we deplore the fact that our actions are impure.

Remember that because all flesh had corrupted its course, the great deluge followed. Since, then, our interior affection is corrupt, it must be that the action which follows from it, the index as it were of our lack of inward strength, is also corrupt. Out of a pure heart come the fruits of a good life.

People are wont to ask how much a man has done but they think little of the virtue with which he acts. They ask: Is he strong? rich? handsome? a good writer? a good singer? or a good worker? They say little, however, about how poor he is in spirit, how patient and meek, how devout and spiritual. Nature looks to his outward appearance; grace turns to his inward being. The one often errs, the other trusts in God and is not deceived.
(Book 3 Ch 31)

Posted in LENTEN PRAYERS & NOVENAS, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, The HOLY CROSS, The PASSION, The SIGN of the CROSS

Our Morning Offering – 7 March – Prayer Before The Crucifix by St Vincent Strambi

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Our Morning Offering – 7 March – The Third Sunday of Lent

Prayer Before The Crucifix
By St Vincent Strambi (1745-1824)

Jesus, by this Saving Sign,
bless this listless soul of mine.
Jesus, by Your feet nailed fast,
mend the missteps of my past.
Jesus, with Your riven hands,
bend my will to love’s demands.
Jesus, in Your Heart laid bare,
warm my inner coldness there.
Jesus, by Your thorn-crowned head,
still my pride till it is dead.
Jesus, by Your muted tongue,
stay my words that hurt someone.
Jesus, by Your tired eyes,
open mine to faith’s surprise.
Jesus, by Your fading breath,
keep me faithful until death.
Yes, Lord, by this Saving Sign,
save this wayward soul of mine.
Amen

Posted in CONFESSION/PENANCE, GOD ALONE!, LENT 2021, LENTEN THOUGHTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on GREED, WEALTH, QUOTES on HELL, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on OBEDIENCE, QUOTES on PATIENCE, QUOTES on PERSEVERANCE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, The HEART, Thomas a Kempis

Day Eighteen of our Lenten Journey – “I will arise and go to my father ” – Luke 15:18

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Day Eighteen of our Lenten Journey – 6 March – Saturday of the Second week of Lent, Readings: Micah 7:14-15, 18-20, Psalms 103: 1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12, Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32

Imitating Christ with Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)

In You is the source of life
and in Your Light Lord, we see light
Psalm 35(36)

I will arise and go to my father and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you” – Luke 15:18

In that day every trial borne in patience will be pleasing and the voice of iniquity will be stilled; the devout will be glad; the irreligious will mourn and the mortified body will rejoice far more than if it had been pampered with every pleasure. Then the cheap garment will shine with splendour and the rich one become faded and worn; the poor cottage will be more praised than the gilded palace. In that day persevering patience will count more than all the power in this world; simple obedience will be exalted above all worldly cleverness; a good and clean conscience will gladden the heart of man far more than the philosophy of the learned and contempt for riches will be of more weight than every treasure on earth.

Then you will find more consolation in having prayed devoutly than in having fared daintily; you will be happy that you preferred silence to prolonged gossip.

Then holy works will be of greater value than many fair words; strictness of life and hard penances will be more pleasing than all earthly delights.

Learn, then, to suffer little things now that you may not have to suffer greater ones in eternity. Prove here what you can bear hereafter. If you can suffer only a little now, how will you be able to endure eternal torment? If a little suffering makes you impatient now, what will hell fire do? In truth, you cannot have two joys: you cannot taste the pleasures of this world and afterward reign with Christ.

If your life to this moment had been full of honours and pleasures, what good would it do if at this instant you should die? All is vanity, therefore, except to love God and to serve Him alone.

He who loves God with all his heart does not fear death or punishment or judgement or hell, because perfect love assures access to God.

It is no wonder that he who still delights in sin fears death and judgment.

It is good, however, that even if love does not as yet restrain you from evil, at least the fear of hell does. The man who casts aside the fear of God cannot continue long in goodness but will quickly fall into the snares of the devil.
(Book 1 Ch 24:5-7)

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST the LIGHT, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, LENT, LENTEN THOUGHTS, QUOTES for CHRIST, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SIN, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 6 March – ‘You, Who desire that all should be saved.’ Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32

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One Minute Reflection – 6 March – Saturday of the Second week of Lent, Readings: Micah 7:14-15, 18-20, Psalms 103: 1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12, Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32

“Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him” – Luke 15:22

REFLECTION – “How many there are who, through repentance, have been worthy to receive the love You hold for humankind. You justified the anguished publican and the weeping woman who was a sinner (Lk 18.14; 7,50) for, through a predetermined design, You foresee and grant pardon. Convert me also together with them, You, Who desire that all should be saved.

My soul was soiled as it put on the garment of its sins (Gn 3,21). O let me make fountains flow from my eyes that I may purify it by repentance. Clothe me with the shining robe worthy of Your wedding (Mt 22,12), You, Who desire that all should be saved…

O heavenly Father, have compassion for my cry as You did for the prodigal son, for I, too, am throwing myself at Your feet and crying aloud as he cried: “Father, I have sinned!” Do not reject me Your unworthy child, O my Saviour but cause Your angels to rejoice also on my behalf, O God of goodness You, Who desire that all should be saved.

For you have made me Your child and Your own heir through grace (Rm 8,17). Yet as for me, because I have offended You, am here a prisoner, an unhappy slave sold over to sin! Take pity on Your own image (Gn 1,26) and call it back from exile, O Saviour, You, Who desire that all should be saved…

Now is the time for repentance… The words of Paul urge me to persevere in prayer (Col 4,2) and await You. Therefore, with trust I pray, for I well know Your mercy, I know You come the first towards me and I am calling out for help. Should You delay, it is to give me the reward for perseverance, You, Who desire that all should be saved.

Grant me always to extol You and give You glory by leading a life that is pure. Grant that my deeds may be in accord with my words, that I may sing to You, Almighty… with pure prayer, Christ alone who desires that all should be saved.” – St Romanos Melodios (c 490-c 556) Monk, Composer of hymns, Poet – Hymn 55; SC 283

PRAYER – Almighty God, Whose sanctifying grace, even here on earth, brings us the gifts of heaven, guide us in this present life and lead us, in the footsteps of that Light the Christ, Whom You sent to lead us in His Light to the light of Your dwelling. May the prayers of all Your angels with the Blessed Virgin our Mother, St John the Baptist, St Joseph, Blessed Sylvester of Assisi and all the Saints strengthen and lighten our way. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, LENT 2021, LENTEN PRAYERS & NOVENAS, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN Saturdays, PRAYERS of the SAINTS

Our Morning Offering – 6 March -O Jesus, Mary’s Son! By St Thomas Aquinas

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Our Morning Offering – 6 March – Saturday of the Second week of Lent and always a Marian day

O Jesus, Mary’s Son!
By St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
Doctor Angelicus, Doctor communis

Hail to Thee! True body sprung
From the Virgin Mary’s womb!
The same that on the cross was hung
And bore for man the bitter doom.
Thou Whose side was pierced and flowed
Both with water and with blood.
Suffer us to taste of Thee
In our life’s last agony.
O kind, O loving One!
O Jesus, Mary’s Son!
Amen

Posted in LENT 2021, LENTEN PRAYERS & NOVENAS, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS

Our Morning Offering – 5 March – A Lenten Prayer

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Our Morning Offering – 5 March – Friday of the Second week of Lent

A Lenten Prayer
By St Pope Pius V (1504-1572)

Look with favour, Lord,
on Your household.
Grant that,
though our flesh be humbled
by abstinence from food,
our souls, hungering after You,
may be resplendent in Your sight.
Amen

St Pius V is the Pope of the Council of Trent, the Counter Reformation, the excommunication of Elizabeth I for Heresy and persecution of English Catholics and of the Battle of Lepanto, amongst many other illustrious and holy achievements.

Posted in LENTEN THOUGHTS, LOVE of NEIGHBOUR, MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUOTES - J R R Tolkien and MORE, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on GREED, WEALTH, QUOTES on MERCY, QUOTES on POVERTY

Thought for the Day – 4 March – Riches and Poverty

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Thought for the Day – 4 March – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

Riches and Poverty

“There is a striking contrast between the luxurious living of wealthy people who waste their money on pleasure and amusement and the abject poverty of those who are without food, clothing and shelter.
This is in complete contradiction of the Gospel message which has proclaimed that we are all brothers.

Extravagance is always self-centred, whereas Christianity, is the creed of love.
Sumptuous living cannot be justified by an appeal to the right to own property, for, it is a shameless betrayal of the Gospel spirit of fraternl charity.
When St Thomas Aquinas is defending the right to private property, he adds at once: “In regard to the use of it, however, a man should not regard material goods as belonging entirely to himself but … should be ready to share them with others in their necessity” (Summa Theologiae, II-II, 1 66, a 2).
If such maxims, which derive their inspiration from the Gospel, were put into practice, there would be neither excessive wealth, nor excessive poverty, in the world today.

It is true, that there would still be poverty but, destitution would disappear.

Poverty is good, in that it makes us detached from worldly things and helps us to think more about the next life.
But, destitution is really a social crime, for it is the result of human egoism and can breed hatred and spiritual degradation.

“Poverty,” writes Péguy, “is decent. It does not dress in rags … It’s dwelling is tidy, healthy and affords a welcome. It can have a change of linen once a week. It is not emaciated nor hungry… It is not good for anyone to live in easy circumstances; on the contrary, it is much better always to feel the goad of necessity…” (La guerre et la paix, p 338).

It was, in this sense, that Jesus blessed the poor and condemned the rich.
He is referring to the poor man who has enough to supply his needs, is detached from worldly possessions, uses his poverty to assist him in his journey towards Heaven and, is happy or, at any rate, content.
But He condemns the rich man who squanders his wealth on selfish amusement and is deaf to the entreaties of those in need.

After twenty centuries of Christianity, the violent contrast still exists in modern society.
If we have any reason to reproach ourselves, let us try now, to make up for our deficiencies.

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

Posted in LENT 2021, LENTEN THOUGHTS, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on HELL, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SIN, The LAST THINGS, The WORD, Thomas a Kempis

Day Sixteen of our Lenten Journey – 4 March – ‘I am in anguish in this flame’ – Luke 16:24

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Day Sixteen of our Lenten Journey – 4 March – Wednesday of the Second week of Lent, Readings: Jeremiah 17:5-10, Psalms 1: 1-2, 3, and 6, Luke 16: 19-31

Imitating Christ with Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)

In You is the source of life
and in Your Light Lord, we see light
Psalm 35(36)

And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ … Luke 16:24

IN ALL things consider the end, how you shall stand before the strict Judge from Whom nothing is hidden and Who will pronounce judgement in all justice, accepting neither bribes nor excuses. And you, miserable and wretched sinner, who fear even the countenance of an angry man, what answer will you make to the God Who knows all your sins? Why do you not provide for yourself against the day of judgement when no man can be excused, or defended by another because each will have enough to do, to answer for himself? In this life your work is profitable, your tears acceptable, your sighs audible, your sorrow satisfying and purifying.

The patient man goes through a great and salutary purgatory when he grieves more over the malice of one who harms him, than for his own injury; when he prays readily for his enemies and forgives offenses from his heart; when he does not hesitate to ask pardon of others; when he is more easily moved to pity than to anger; when he does frequent violence to himself and tries to bring the body into complete subjection to the spirit.

It is better to atone for sin now and to cut away vices than to keep them for purgation in the hereafter. In truth, we deceive ourselves by our ill-advised love of the flesh. What will that fire feed upon but our sins? The more we spare ourselves now and the more we satisfy the flesh, the harder will the reckoning be and the more we keep for the burning.

For a man will be more grievously punished in the things in which he has sinned. There the lazy will be driven with burning prongs and gluttons tormented with unspeakable hunger and thirst; the wanton and lust-loving will be bathed in burning pitch and foul brimstone; the merciless will howl in their grief like mad dogs.

Every vice will have its own proper punishment. The proud will be faced with every confusion and the avaricious pinched with the most abject want. One hour of suffering there will be more bitter than a hundred years of the most severe penance here. In this life men sometimes rest from work and enjoy the comfort of friends but the damned have no rest or consolation.

You must, therefore, take care and repent of your sins now so that on the day of judgment you may rest secure with the blessed. For on that day the just will stand firm against those who tortured and oppressed them and he who now submits humbly to the judgement of men, will arise to pass judgement upon them. The poor and humble will have great confidence, while the proud will be struck with fear. He who learned to be a fool in this world and to be scorned for Christ will then appear to have been wise.

If your life to this moment had been full of honours and pleasures, what good would it do if at this instant you should die?
All is vanity, therefore, except to love God and to serve Him alone.
(Book 1 Ch 24:1-5,7)

Posted in LENT, LENT 2021, LENTEN PRAYERS & NOVENAS, ONE Minute REFLECTION, POETRY, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on ALMS, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on REPARATION/EXPIATION, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection –4 March – ‘They lay outside at my gate’ – Luke 16: 19-31

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One Minute Reflection –4 March – Thursday of the Second week of Lent, Readings Jeremiah 17:5-10, Psalms 1: 1-2, 3, and 6, Luke 16: 19-31 and the Memorial of St Casimir- (1458-1484)

The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom. … Luke 16:22-23

REFLECTION – By St Nerses Chnorhali (1102-1173) Armenian Bishop – Jesus, Only Son of the Father, 624 f.

Like the rich man who loved a life of pleasure
I, too, have loved pleasures that pass away
With this animal body of mine,
In the pleasures of that fool.

And from so many and such great blessings
That You have so freely given me
I have not paid back the tenth
From Your own gifts.

But, out of everything under my roof,
Gathered from earth and sky and sea,
I believed Your numberless blessings
To be my own possession.

Nothing of these have I given to the poor,
Nor set anything aside for his needs:
Neither food for the hungry
Nor covering for the naked body,

Neither shelter for the homeless
Nor abode for the foreign guest,
Nor visit to the sick
Nor even concern for the prisoner (cf. Mt 25:31 f.).

I was not saddened for the sorrow
Of the one cast down by his burdens,
Nor shared the joy of the joyful
But burned with jealousy against him.

All of them were another Lazarus, (…)
They lay outside at my gate; …
Yet I, deaf to their appeal,
Never gave them the crumbs from my table. …

The dogs of your Law outside
Comforted them, at least with their tongues;
Yet I, who listened to Your commandment,
Wounded the one who bore Your likeness with my tongue (Mt 25:45). (…)

Yet only grant me repentance here below
That I may make reparation for my sins, …
That these tears may extinguish the blazing furnace
With its burning flames. …

And, instead of acting like the merciless,
Set merciful compassion within me,
That, by showing mercy to the poor,
I may obtain Your mercy.

PRAYER – Dear and Holy God, let us offer You all our daily struggles against sin and evil. Grant us the strength to resist all forms of idolatry, to seek only You and never to allow the material goods of this world to seduce us. Sustain us ever more with Your word and help us to find in it, the source of life. Grant that by the intercession of St Casimir we may grow in charity us during our life on earth. Grant this, through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, in union with the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENTEN PRAYERS & NOVENAS, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS

Our Morning Offering – 4 March – O Lord and Master of My Life

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Our Morning Offering – 4 March – Thursday of the Second week of Lent

O Lord and Master of My Life
By Saint Ephrem (306-373)
Father & Doctor of the Church

O Lord and Master of my life,
give me not a spirit of sloth, vain curiosity,
lust for power and idle talk.
But give to me, Thy servant,
a spirit of soberness, humility, patience and love.
O Lord and King,
grant me to see my own faults
and not to condemn my brother.
For blessed art Thou to the ages of ages.
Amen
O God, be merciful to me a sinner.
O God, cleanse me, a sinner.
O God, my Creator, save me
and for my many sins forgive me!

Posted in "Follow Me", LENT 2021, LENTEN THOUGHTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on GRACE, The WORD, Thomas a Kempis

Day Fifteen of our Lenten Journey – 3 March – ‘Each day we ought to renew our resolutions …’

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Day Fifteen of our Lenten Journey – 3 March – Wednesday of the Second week of Lent, Readings: Jeremiah 18:18-20,Psalms 31: 5-6, 14, 15-16, Matthew 20: 17-28

Imitating Christ with Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)

In You is the source of life
and in Your Light Lord, we see light
Psalm 35(36)

“Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” – Matthew 20:22

Each day we ought to renew our resolutions and arouse ourselves to fervour, as though it were the first day of our turning back to God.
We ought to say: “Help me, O Lord God, in my good resolution and in Your holy service. Grant me now, this very day, to begin perfectly, for thus far I have done nothing.”

As our intention is, so will be our progress and he who desires perfection must be very diligent.
If the strong-willed man fails frequently, what of the man who makes up his mind seldom or half-heartedly?
Many are the ways of failing in our resolutions …

Just men depend on the grace of God rather than on their own wisdom in keeping their resolutions.
In Him they confide every undertaking, for man, indeed, proposes but God disposes and God’s way is not man’s.
If a habitual exercise is sometimes omitted out of piety or in the interests of another, it can easily be resumed later.
But if it be abandoned carelessly, through weariness or neglect, then the fault is great and will prove hurtful.
Much as we try, we still fail too easily in many things.
Yet we must always have some fixed purpose, especially against things which beset us the most.
Our outward and inward lives alike, must be closely watched and well ordered, for both are important to perfection.
(Book 1 Ch 19:1-2)

Posted in "Follow Me", GOD ALONE!, LENT, LENTEN THOUGHTS, OUR Cross, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, QUOTES on WILL (Reasonable or Superior), The HOLY CROSS, The PASSION, The WILL of GOD, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 3 March – “Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” – Matthew 20:17-28

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 3 March – Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent, Readings: Jeremiah 18:18-20,Psalms 31: 5-6, 14, 15-16, Matthew 20: 17-28

“You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” … the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” … Matthew 20:22,28

REFLECTION – “It is our task and, in our case, an obligation, to make of you the object of all our care, our zeal, our ministrations, by word and deed, by warnings, encouragement, admonitions and incitement, (…) so that, in this way, we might insert you into the rhythm of the divine will and face you towards the goal set before us – to give pleasure to God. …

He who is immortal, voluntarily shed His blood. He who created the host of angels, was
bound at the hands of soldiers and He who is to judge the living and the dead, was dragged to justice (cf. Acts 10:42; 2 Tm 4:1). Truth was exposed to false witnesses, was slandered, struck, covered with spittle, hung on the wood of the cross – the Lord of glory (cf. 1 Cor 2:8) endured every outrage and suffering without Himself needing these trials. How could this have happened to Him who, even as man, was without sin and who, to the contrary, snatched us away from the tyranny of the sin through which death came into the world and falsely took possession of our first father?

So there is nothing surprising about it, if we submit to even one of these trials since such is our condition … Therefore, we too have to be offended and tempted, afflicted by the cutting off of our wills. According to the interpretation of our Fathers, there is in this, a shedding of blood for this is what it means to be a monk. And we must gain the Kingdom of heaven in that way, by spending our lives in imitation of the Lord. … Apply yourselves zealously to your duties in the thought that by means of them, far from being slaves of men, you are serving God.” … St Theodore the Studite (759- 826) Monk at Constantinople – Catecheses 1

PRAYER – Protect Your family, Lord, trained as it is by the constant exercise of good works. Renew our spirit with the grace that teaches us how to imitate You, to suffer for You and with You, strengthen us with Your consoling presence and lead us, to the joys of heaven. May the intercession of our Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary keep us on the path of Your kingdom’s glory. Through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.

Posted in LENT 2021, LENTEN PRAYERS & NOVENAS, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS for SEASONS, PRAYERS of the SAINTS

Our Morning Offering – 3 March – Thy Grace

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 3 March – Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent

Thy Grace
A Lenten Prayer
By St John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

O my God,
suffer me still,
bear with me in spite of my
waywardness,
perverseness
and ingratitude!
I improve very slowly
but really, I am moving onto heaven,
or at least, I wish to move.
Only give me Thy grace
meet me with Thy grace,
I will, through Thy grace, do what I can
and Thou shall perfect it for me.
Then shall I have happy days,
in Thy Presence
and in the sight and adoration of
Thy five Sacred Wounds.
Amen