Our Morning Offering – 15 March
The Second Week of Lent
Wednesday
God of Love,
through this Lenten journey,
purify my desire to serve You.
Free me from any temptations to judge others,
to place myself above others.
Please let me surrender even my impatience
with others,
that with Your love and Your grace,
I might be less and less absorbed with myself,
and more and more full of the desire
to follow Your Son, in laying down my life
according to His example.
Amen
LENTEN REFLECTION – The Second Week of Lent – Tuesday 14 MARCH
He, the Author of all things, for forty days tasted no food. Let us likewise, as far as we are able, afflict our flesh by abstinence during the season of Lent. A fast of forty days is observed, since the perfection of the Decalogue is completed by the four books of the Holy Gospel; ten multiplied by four being forty.
Or, again, because this mortal body is made up from four elements and because of its pleasures we are bound by the commandments of the Lord, made known in the Decalogue, it is therefore, fitting, that we who through the desires of the flesh despise the commands of God should chastise this same flesh four times ten times.
Or, as by the Law men had to offer up tithes of their possessions, so ought we strive to offer tithes of our days. For from the first Sunday of Lent, until the joys of the Paschal feast, there are six weeks – which are two and forty days, from which, since the six days of Sunday are subtracted from the fast, there remains but thirty six days. Since the year continues for three hundred and sixty five days, we do penance for thirty six days, as though offering to God a tenth of our year.
Our Morning Offering – 14 March
The Second Week of Lent
Tuesday
God in heaven and in my life,
guide me and protect me.
I so often believe I can save myself
and I always end in failure.
Lead me with Your love away from harm
and guide me on the right path.
May Your Holy Spirit inspire the Church
and make us an instrument of Your love,
your peace, your mercy.
Help us to imitate the humility
of Your Son and approach all
with humble care.
Thank You for Your Hand on me,
on the whole Church and
on Your beautiful creation, amen.
LENTEN REFLECTION – The Second Week – Monday 13 March
Our life is a constant exercise in judgment: in distinguishing what is good from what is bad, in deciding which course of action we would like to take, in discerning which kind of life we wish to create for ourselves. From the day we are born to our last breath, we judge. It’s the way of life and survival. Hence, Jesus’ exhortation in today’s gospel reading, that we should not judge, must not be understood to mean that every process of discernment should be abandoned. If it did, our lives would fall into chaos.
Rather, He should be understood to mean that if we do judge, especially our brothers or sisters, we should see to it that the measure by which we gauge their acceptability is the same measure we would use on ourselves.
There are occasions when we do tend to be too demanding of others while too lax and undemanding of ourselves. That would not only be unfair in Jesus’ mind, it would also be hypocritical. For a hypocrite is one who judges himself with a standard far lower than what he would use in judging others. And this is a very grave danger, not only to one’s faith but to the very integrity of one’s character. Justice and fairness after all, are the measure by which we shall all be judged in the end.
Blessed John Henry Newman says:
“Saint John the Baptist had a most difficult office to fulfill; that of rebuking a king…It is difficult to rebuke well, that is, at the right time, in a right spirit and a right manner. T he holy Baptist rebuked Herod without making him angry; therefore he must have rebuked him with gravity, temper, sincerity and an evident good-will towards him. On the other hand, he spoke so firmly, sharply and faithfully, that his rebuke cost him his life.
We who now live have not that extreme duty put upon us with which Saint John was laden (namely, rebuking a king); yet every one of us has a share in his office (of admonishing), inasmuch as we are all bound “to rebuke vice boldly,” when we have fit opportunities for so doing…
Aim at viewing all things in a plain and candid light and at calling them by their right names. Be frank, do not keep your notions of right and wrong to yourselves, nor, conceit that the world is too bad to be taught the Truth, suffer it to sin in word or deed without rebuke. Do not allow friend or stranger in the familiar intercourse of society to advance false opinions, nor shrink from stating your own and do this in singleness of mind and love…
…The single-hearted Christian will find fault, not austerely or gloomily but in love; not stiffly, but naturally, gently, and as a matter of course, just as he would tell his friend of some obstacle in his path which was likely to throw him down but without any feeling of superiority over him…”
Great reflection – reread it a couple more times! It gives great advice on how we as Christians are obligated to charitably and meekly correct the sins of others and he also advises us on the way to go about it. Always ask for the help of the Holy Spirit when you feel called to speak up, so that in careful prudence, you may discern what is the best manner to go about it.
Our Morning Offering – 13 March
The Second Week of Lent
Monday
Lord,
Your commandment of love is so simple
and so challenging.
Help me to let go of my pride,
to be humble in my penance.
I want only to live the way You ask me to love,
to love the way You ask me to live.
To learn not to judge others
but in total humility to love all.
I ask this through Your Son, Jesus Christ,
our Lord, in unity with the Holy Spirit
who lives in me and stands at my side
today and always.
Amen
Our Morning Offering – 12 March
The Second Week of Lent – Sunday
Loving God,
there is so much darkness in my life
and I often try to hide from You.
Take my hand Divine Son and Saviour
and lead me out of the shadows of my fear.
Help me to change my heart
and be transfigured by Your Holy Spirit.
Bring me to Your truth
and help me to respond to Your generous love.
Let me recognise the fullness of Your love
which will fill my life.
Free me from the darkness in my heart. Amen
Dear Friends
No posts today. I should be back tomorrow.
God bless your weekend!
Ana
LENTEN REFLECTION – Friday of the First Week of Lent – 10 MARCH
For example, in respect to curiosity. What a deal of time is lost, to say nothing else, in this day by curiosity, about things which in no ways concern us. I am not speaking against interest in the news of the day altogether, for the course of the world must ever be interesting to a Christian from its bearing upon the fortunes of the church but I speak of vain curiosity, love of scandal, love of idle tales, curious prying into the private history of people, curiosity about trials and offences, and personal matters, nay often what is much worse than this, curiosity into sin. What strange diseased curiosity is sometimes felt about the history of murders and of the malefactors themselves! Worse still, it is shocking to say, but there is so much evil curiosity to know about deeds of darkness, of which the Apostle [Paul] says that it is shameful to speak. Many a person, who has no intention of doing the like, from an evil curiosity reads what he ought not to read. This is in one shape or other very much the sin of boys and they suffer for it. The knowledge of what is evil is the first step in their case to the commission of it. Hence this is the way in which we are called upon, with this Lent we now begin, to mortify ourselves. Let us mortify our curiosity.
One Minute Reflection – 10 March
We are ….. heirs of God, heirs of Christ, if only we suffer with him so as to be glorified with him……..Romans 8:17
REFLECTION – If we suffer with Christ, we will be glorified with Him. The fulfilment of the promised happiness is certain for those who share in the Lord’s Passion……St Pope Leo the Great
PRAYER – Grant me Your grace to overcome my natural fear of suffering Lord. Strengthen me to bear my sufferings in union with Your sacred Passion, for the salvation of the world. St John Ogilvie you are an example to me, please pray that this Lenten time will assist us all in overcoming our fear of sharing in the Passion of our God. Amen
Our Morning Offering – 10 March
The First Week of Lent
Friday
Creator of my Life,
renew me – bring me to new life in You.
Touch me and make me feel whole again.
Help me to see Your love
in the passion, death and resurrection of Your son.
Help me to observe Lent
in a way that allows me to celebrate that love.
Prepare me for these weeks of Lent
as I feel both deep sorrow for my sins
and awareness of Your undying love for me
me, who deserves it not.
Amen
LENTEN REFLECTION – Thursday of the First Week of Lent – 9 MARCH
Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman
Next I observe that a civilized age is more exposed to subtle sins than a rude age. Why? For this simple reason- because it is more fertile in excuses and evasions. It can defend error and hence can blind the eyes of those who have not very careful consciences. It can make error plausible, it can make vice look like virtue. It dignifies sin by fine names; it calls avarice proper care of one’s family, or industry, it calls pride independence, it calls ambition greatness of mind; resentment it calls proper spirit and sense of honour and so on.
…What all of us want more than anything else, what this age wants, is that its intellect and its will should be under a law. At present it is lawless, its will is its own law, its own reason is the standard of all truth. It does not bow to authority, it does not submit to the law of faith. It is wise in its own eyes and it relies on its own resources. And you, as living in the world, are in danger of being seduced by it and being a partner in its sin and so coming in at the end for its punishment.
Our Morning Offering – 9 March
The First Week of Lent
Thursday
Lord,
I’m not always eager to do Your will.
I’d often much rather do my own will.
Please be with me on this Lenten journey
and help me to remember
that Your own spirit can guide me
in the right direction.
I want to “fix” my weaknesses
but the task seems overwhelming.
But I know that with Your help,
anything can be done.
With a grateful heart,
I acknowledge Your love
and know that without You,
I can do nothing. Amen
LENTEN REFLECTION – Wednesday of the First Week of Lent – 8 MARCH
Now, I have used the word “subtle” already and it needs some explanation. By a subtle temptation or a subtle sin, I mean one which it is very difficult to find out. Everyone knows what it is to break the ten commandments, the first, the second, the third and so on. When a thing is directly commanded and the devil tempts us directly to break it, this is not a subtle temptation but a broad and gross temptation. But there are a great many things wrong which are not so obviously wrong. They are wrong as leading to what is wrong or the consequence of what is wrong, or they are wrong because they are the very same thing as what is forbidden but dressed up and looking differently.
The human mind is very deceitful; when a thing is forbidden, a man does not like directly to do it but he goes to work if he can to get at the forbidden end in some way. It is like a man who has to make for some place. First he attempts to go straight to it but finds the way blocked up; then he goes round about it. At first you would not think he is going in the right direction; he sets off perhaps at a right angle but he just makes one little bend, then another, till at length he gets to his point. Or still more it is like a sailing vessel at sea with the wind contrary but tacking first this way and then that, the mariners contrive at length to get to their destination. This then is a subtle sin, when it at first seems not to be a sin but comes round to the same point as an open direct sin.
To take some examples. If the devil tempted one to go out into the highway and rob, this would be an open, bold temptation. But if he tempted one to do something unfair in the course of business, which was to one’s neighbour’s hurt and to one’s own advantage, it would be a more subtle temptation. The man would still take what was his neighbour’s, but his conscience would not be so much shocked. So equivocation is a more subtle sin than direct lying. In like manner a person who does not intoxicate himself, may eat too much. Gluttony is a more subtle sin than drunkenness because it does not show so much. And again, sins of the soul are more subtle sins than sins of the body. Infidelity is a more subtle sin than licentiousness.
Even in our Blessed Lord’s case the Tempter began by addressing himself to His bodily wants. He had fasted forty days and afterwards was hungered. So the devil tempted Him to eat. But when He did not consent, then he went on to more subtle temptations. He tempted him to spiritual pride and he tempted Him by ambition for power. Many a man would shrink from intemperance, of being proud of his spiritual attainments; that is, he would confess such things were wrong but he would not see that he was guilty of them.
Blessed John Henry Newman (Excerpt from a sermon for the first Sunday in Lent )
Our Morning Offering – 8 March
The First Week of Lent
Wednesday
Dear Lord,
I know You receive what is in my heart.
Let me be inspired by Your words
and by the actions of Your son, Jesus.
Guide me to make sacrifices this Lent
in the spirit of self-denial
and with greater attention to You
and to those around me.
Help me to believe that You will grant me this,
that You will guide and teach me
in the way of the sacrifice
that Jesus made for me.
Amen
LENTEN REFLECTION – Tuesday of the First Week of Lent – 7 MARCH
by St Ambrose of Milan (337-397 AD) Doctor of the Church
The devil demonstrates simultaneously his weakness and his wickedness.
He is unable to harm anyone who does not harm himself. In fact, anyone who denies heaven and chooses the earth is, as it were, rushing towards a precipice, even though running of his own accord.
The devil, however, starts working as soon as he sees someone living up to faith’s commitments, someone who has a reputation for virtue, who does good works.
He tries to worm vanity into him, to make it possible for him to be puffed up with pride, become presumptuous, lose trust in prayer and not attribute to God the good that he does but to take all the credit himself.
Our Father: Creator, Redeemer, Saviour and Comforter.
In Heaven: In the angels and the saints. You give them light so that they may have knowledge, because You are light. You inflame them so that they may love, because You are love. You live continually in them so that they may be happy, because You are the supreme good, the eternal good, and it is from You all good comes and without You there is no good.
Hallowed be your name: May our knowledge of You become ever clearer, so that we may realise the breadth of Your blessings, the extent of Your promises, the height of Your majesty and the depth of Your judgments.
Your kingdom come: So that You may reign in us by Your grace and bring us to Your kingdom, where we shall see You clearly, love You perfectly, be happy in Your company and enjoy You for ever.
Your will be done, on Earth as in Heaven: That we may love You with our whole heart by always thinking of You; with our whole mind by directing our whole intention towards You and seeking Your glory in everything; and with all our strength by spending all our energies and affections of soul and body in the service of Your love alone. And may we love our neighbour as ourselves, encouraging them all to love You as best we can, rejoicing at the good fortune of others, just as if it were our own and sympathising with their misfortunes, while giving offence to no one.
Give us today our daily bread: Your own beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to remind us of the love He showed for us and to help us to understand and appreciate it and everything that He did or said or suffered.
And forgive us our sins: In Your infinite mercy, and by the power of the passion of Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, together with the merits and the intercession of the Blessèd Virgin Mary and all the saints.
As we forgive those who sin against us: And if we do not forgive perfectly, make us forgive perfectly, so that we may truly love our enemies for love of You and pray fervently to You for them, returning no one evil for evil, anxious only to serve everybody in you.
Lead us not into temptation: Hidden or obvious, sudden or unforeseen.
But deliver us from evil: Present, past or future. Amen.
Our Morning Offering – 7 March
The First Week of Lent
Tuesday
Father of my soul,
Mother of my heart,
I know Your love for me
is limitless beyond imagining.
You care for me as a loving parent.
Through my smallest Lenten sacrifices,
help me to become less selfish
and more aware of Your ways.
Fan the flame of my desire
to draw ever closer to You.
Guide me to seek Your love
and then to share it freely.
Amen
LENTEN REFLECTION – Monday of the First Week of Lent – 6 MARCH
The devil does not have only one weapon. He uses many different means to defeat human beings: now with bribery, now with boredom, now with greed he attacks, inflicting mental and physical wounds equally.
The kind of temptation varies with the different kinds of victim. Avarice is the test of the rich, loss of children that of parents and everyone is exposed to pain of mind or body. What a wealth of weapons is at the devil’s disposal!
It was for this reason that the Lord chose to have nothing to lose. He came to us in poverty so that the devil could find nothing to take away from Him. You see the truth of this when you hear the Lord himself saying:
“The prince of this world is come and has found nothing in me” [John 14:30]. The devil could only test him with bodily pain but this too was useless because Christ despised bodily suffering.
Job was tested by his own goods, whereas Christ was tempted, during the experience of the wilderness, by the goods of all. In fact, the devil robbed Job of his riches and offered Christ the kingdom of the whole world. Job was tested by vexations, Christ by prizes. Job the faithful servant replied: “The Lord has given and the Lord has taken away” [Job 1:21] Christ, being conscious of His own divine nature, scorned the devil’s offering of what already belonged to Him.
So let us not be afraid of temptations. Rather, let us glory in them saying: “When I am weak, then am I strong.” [2 Cor. 12:10].
Our Morning Offering – 6 March
The First Week of Lent
Monday
Loving God,
You call us back to You
to come with all the strength of our hearts.
I feel Your call to me deep inside
and I know You want me to come to You
as much as I wish to return and give You my all.
Please, Lord,
give me the wisdom to know how to
make my journey to You this Lent.
And fill me with Your grace,
forgiveness and gentle love.
Amen
The cross is the tomb which absorbs all human pride:”Come thus far; I said and no farther: here your proud waves shall break” (Job 38:11). The waves of human pride break against the rock of Calvary and they can go no further. The wall God erected against them is too high and the abyss he dug before them too deep. ‘We must realize that our former selves have been crucified with him to destroy this sinful body’ (Romans 6:6). The body of pride — for this is the sin par excellence, the sin that gives rise to all other sins. ‘He was bearing our faults in his own body on the cross’ (1 Peter 2:24). He bore our pride in his body.
But what concerns us in all this? Where is the ‘gospel’, the good and joyful news? It is that Jesus humbled himself also for me, in my place. ‘If one man has died for all, then all have died’ (2 Corinthians 5:14); one has humbled himself for all, therefore all have humbled themselves. Jesus on the cross is the new Adam obeying for all. He is the head, the beginning of a new mankind. He acts in the name of all and for the benefit of all. As ‘by one man’s obedience many will be made righteous’ (Romans 5:19), by one man’s humility, many will be made humble.
Pride, like disobedience, is no longer part of us. It is part of the Old Adam. It has become old-fashioned. The new thing now is humility, which is full of hope because it opens up a new existence based on giving, love and solidarity and no longer on competitiveness, social climbing and taking advantage of one another. ‘The old creation has gone and now the new one is here’ (2 Corinthians 5:17). Humility is one of these marvelous new things.
What, therefore, does it mean to celebrate the mystery of the cross ‘in spirit and in truth’? When applied to what we are celebrating, what is the significance of the ancient maxim: ‘Acknowledge what you are doing, imitate what you are celebrating’? It signifies that you should implement within yourself what you represent externally; put into practice what you are commemorating in the liturgy.
…I must give Christ ‘the sinful body of my pride’, so that he can destroy it de facto just as he destroyed it by right once and for all on the cross. When I was a boy, the people of my region used to light a bonfire in the country at nightfall on the eve of certain feasts which could be seen over the hills. ach family would bring some wood and vine branches to keep the fire going while, around it, the rosary would be recited. Something similar must take place here this evening in preparation for the great feast of Easter. Each one of us should throw, in spirit, his load of pride, vanity, self-sufficiency, presumption, haughtiness into the great furnace of Christ’s passion.
We must imitate the saints in heaven as they adore the Lamb, for this is the model for our adoration here on earth. Revelation tells us the saints approach the throne in procession and fall down before him who is seated and they ‘threw down their crowns in front of the throne’ (Revelation 4:10). They cast the real crowns of their martyrdom and we cast the false crown with which we have crowned ourselves. We must ‘nail all feelings of pride to the cross’ (St Augustine, On Christian Doctrine 2,7,9).
On the cross Jesus did not just reveal or practice humility; he created it too. True Christian humility consists in participating in Christ’s inner state on the cross. St Paul says, ‘In your minds you must be the same as Jesus Christ’ (Phil. 2:5); the same mind and not a similar one. Apart from this, many other things can be taken for humility which are really either natural inclination or timidness, or a liking for understatement, or simply common sense and intelligence, when they are not a refined form of pride.
Once we have put on Christ’s humility, it will be easier, among other things, to work for Christian unity, for unity and peace naturally follow humility. This is also true in families. Marriage starts with an act of humility. A young man who falls in love and who on his knees, as was once the custom, asks a girl to marry him, makes the most radical act of humility in his life. He begs and it is as if he were saying, ‘Give me yourself. Alone, I am not sufficient to myself, I need you!’ We could say that God created humankind male and female to help them to be humble, not to be haughty and self-sufficient and to discover the blessing of depending on someone who loves you. He inscribed humility in our very flesh. But, unfortunately, pride too often takes over again and the person we love has to pay for the initial need we had of him or her. Then a dreadful wall of pride rises between the two partners and their incommunicability extinguishes all joy. This evening, Christian spouses are also invited to place all resentment at the foot of the cross, to be reconciled to one another, embracing each other for the sake of Christ who, on this day on the cross, ‘killed the hostility’ (Ephesians 2:16).
(Fr Raniero Cantalamessa, O.F.M. Cap. is an Italian Catholic priest in the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin and theologian and writer. He has served as the Preacher to the Papal Household since 1980, under Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis.)
Quote of the Day – 5 March
St Mother Teresa
Our Morning Offering – 5 March
The First Week of Lent
Sunday
Lord God,
You who breathed
the spirit of life within me.
Draw out of me
the light and life You created.
Help me to find my way back to You.
Help me to use my life
to reflect Your glory
and to serve others
as Your son Jesus did.
Amen
1st Sunday in Lent (2017)
—
St Adrian of Caesarea
St Caron
St Carthach the Elder
Bl Christopher Macassoli of Vigevano
St Clement of Santa Lucia
St Colman of Armagh
St Conon of Pamphylia
Bl Conrad Scheuber
St Eusebius of Cremona
St Eusebius the Martyr
St Gerasimus
Bl Giovanna Irrizaldi
Bl Ion Costist
St John Joseph of the Cross
St Kieran
Bl Lazër Shantoja
St Lucius I, Pope
St Mark the Ascetic
St Oliva of Brescia
St Phocas of Antioch
St Piran
Bl Roger
Bl Romeo of Limoges
St Theophilus of Caesarea
St Virgilius of Arles
LENTEN REFLECTION – 4 MARCH
To redeem a servant, the Father spares not His own Son, and the Son delivers Himself up most willingly. Both send the Holy Spirit and the Spirit Himself interceded for us with unspeakable groaning (Romans 8:26).
O hard, and hardened, and hard-hearted children of Adam! How can you remain unmoved by such great kindness, such blazing fire, so prodigious a flame of love and so ardent a lover, who paid such an extravagant price for a worthless piece of goods!
“Not with perishable things like gold and silver” did Jesus redeem us, but with his own “precious blood” (1 Peter 1:18-19) which flowed out liberally from the five parts of Jesus’ body.
What more should He have done that He did not do? He enlightened the blind, brought back the stragglers, reconciled the guilty and justified the ungodly.
Thirty-three years He was seen on earth. He lived among humans, He died for humans, He spoke concerning the Cherubim and Seraphim and all the angelic powers and they came to be (Psalm 33:9). When He wills it, all power is there with him (Wisdom 12:18).
What then does He who sought you with such concern now seek from you, if not that you walk mindfully with your God (Micah 6:8)? No one but the Holy Spirit enables us to this.
It is He who probes the depth of our hearts (1 Corinthians 2:10), He who discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).
He does not allow the slightest amount of chaff to settle inside the dwelling of a heart which He possesses but consumes it in an instant with a fire of the most minute scrutiny.
He is the sweet and gentle Spirit who bends our will, or rather straightens and directs it more fully toward his own so that we may be able to understand His will truly, love it fervently, and fulfill it effectively.
LENTEN REFLECTION – 3 MARCH
Christ’s self-emptying was neither a simple gesture nor a limited one. He emptied Himself even to the assuming of human nature, even to accepting death, death on a cross (Philippians 2:7).
Who is there that can adequately gauge the greatness of the humility, gentleness and self-surrender, revealed by the Lord of majesty in assuming human nature, in accepting the punishment of death, the shame of the cross?
But somebody will say: “Surely the Creator could have restored His original plan without all that hardship?” Yes, He could but He chose the way of personal suffering so that man would never again have reason to display that worst and most hateful of all vices, ingratitude.
Even if God made you out of nothing, you have not been redeemed out of nothing. In six days He created all things and among them, you. On the other hand, for a period of thirty whole years He worked your salvation in the midst of the earth.
What He endured in those labours! To His bodily needs and the abuses from His enemies did He not add the mightier burden of the humiliation of the cross and crown it all with the horror of His death? And this was indeed necessary. Man and beast you save, 0 Lord (Psalm 36:6). How you have multiplied your mercy, 0 God!
LENTEN REFLECTION – 2 MARCH
Dear friends, at every moment the earth is full of the mercy of God and nature itself is a lesson for all the faithful in the worship of God. The heavens, the sea and all that is in them bear witness to the omnipotence of their Creator and the marvelous beauty of the elements as they obey him demands from the intelligent creation a fitting expression of its gratitude.
But with the return of that season marked out in a special way by the mystery of our redemption and of the days that lead up to the paschal feast, we are summoned more urgently to prepare ourselves by a purification of spirit.
The special note of the paschal feast is this: the whole Church rejoices in the forgiveness of sins. It rejoices in the forgiveness not only of those who are then reborn in holy baptism but also of those who are already numbered among God’s adopted children.
Initially, men are made new by the rebirth of baptism. Yet there is still required a daily renewal to repair the shortcomings of our mortal nature and whatever degree of progress has been made there is no one who should not be more advanced. All must therefore strive to ensure that on the day of redemption no one may be found in the sins of his former life.
Dear friends, what the Christian should be doing at all times should be done now with greater care and devotion, so that the Lenten fast enjoined by the apostles may be fulfilled, not simply by abstinence from food but above all by the renunciation of sin.
There is no more profitable practice as a companion to holy and spiritual fasting than that of almsgiving. This embraces under the single name of mercy many excellent works of devotion, so that the good intentions of the faithful may be of equal value, even where their means are not. The love that we owe both God and man is always free from any obstacle that would prevent us from having a good intention. The angels sang: Glory to God in the highest and peace to his people on earth. The person who shows love and compassion to those in any kind of affliction is blessed, not only with the virtue of good will but also with the gift of peace.
The works of mercy are innumerable. Their very variety brings this advantage to those who are true Christians, that in the matter of almsgiving not only the rich and affluent but also those of average means and the poor are able to play their part. Those who are unequal in their capacity to give can be equal in the love within their hearts.
Quote of the Day – 2 March
“Happy the soul to whom it is given to attain this life with Christ, to cleave with all one’s heart to Him whose beauty all the heavenly hosts behold forever, whose love inflames our love, the contemplation of whom is our refreshment, whose graciousness is our delight, whose gentleness fills us to overflowing, whose remembrance makes us glow with happiness, whose fragrance revives the dead, the glorious vision of whom will be the happiness of all the citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem. For He is the brightness of eternal glory, the splendour of eternal light, the mirror without spot.”
St Clare of Assisi to St Agnes of Prague
(Read the entire letter here: http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/bread_on_the_trail/2011/08/a-letter-of-st-clare-to-blessed-agnes-of-prague-on-christian-contemplation.html)
Our Morning Offering – 2 March
Make my heart, Jesus, one with Yours,
that I may love others as You have loved me,
not for selfish gain but for Your sake alone.
By the power of Your Sacred Heart,
like the power of fire to transform
everything to itself,
make us one in loving You
by drawing all humantity to Yourself.
For You are the Paschal Lamb,
offered for sins,
who, in the Blessed Sacrament,
shines out like a spiritual rainbow.
You radiate in this new
and everlasting covenant,
the very beauty of paradise,
always before the eyes of the Father,
perpetuating here Your perfect sacrifice
on the Cross,
a sacrifice so pleasing that the Father grants
everything good, asked for
in Your Holy Name.
Amen
By Fr Vincent Martin Lucia
AnaStpaul 
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