Category: ONE Minute REFLECTION

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One Minute Reflection – 10 November – “You also must be prepared for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come”

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One Minute Reflection – 10 November – Readings: Ps 36:30-31, Ps 36:1, Sir 31:8-11, Luke 12:35-40

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, Let your loins be girt about and your lamps burning, and you yourselves like men waiting for their master’s return from the wedding; so that when he comes and knocks, they may straight-way open to him.

Luke 12:35-40

REFLECTION – These words mean : you are to be awake and vigilant because you do not know the hour when the Lord will come from the wedding. Because as soon as some feeling of pride, self-satisfaction or self-will enters a man, the Enemy is there cutting the precious bag of all his good works from him. Oh, children! How many of people like these will you see who have done great works and thus gained great renown, but presumption has stripped them of all. They will be placed after the poor and simple fellows whom no one values because of their outward appearance and work. Because they humbly take a lowly place these latter will be set above the others. So keep watch with vigilant soul and you will see the pure truth with open eyes.

Let your loins be girded and your lamps alight. Here there are three points to notice. First: the loins are to be girded like someone firmly bound with a rope so as to be led against his will. Second: you are to carry lighted lamps in your hands, which is to say, works of love. Your hands should never stop doing the true, ardent work of charity. Third: you should wait for the Lord when he returns from the wedding. “The Lord will set them over all his goods; he will gird himself and will serve them.” This wedding from which the Lord comes takes place in the most interior part of the soul, in its depths where the noble image is found. O what intimate contact the soul has with God and God with it in this depth, and what a marvellous work God does there! What rejoicing and joy he finds there! It surpasses all feeling and thought and yet man knows nothing and feels nothing of it.

John Tauler (c.1300-1361)

PRAYER – You Lord, Holy Father, never forget Your solemn covenant and grant us new life each day. We though in our hearts of stone do forget and cease to thank and bless You. Make our hearts turn in gratitude, for all we are and have is by Your grace and we are as nothing without You. May our minds, hearts and souls sing with love and thanks to You, Lord our God. Grant us new hearts by the prayers of Your Saint Leo the Great and all the saints in heaven, who always lived with grateful hearts, praising You always. We ask this this through Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 9 November –Today salvation has come to this house

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One Minute Reflection – 9 November – “Month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory” –Feast Dedication of The Archbasilica of the Most Holy Saviour in the Lateran and the Memorial of Blessed Gabriel Ferretti OFM (1385-1456) – Readings: Gen. 28:17, Ps 83:2-3, Rev 21:2-5, Luke 19:1-10

Jesus said to him, Today salvation has come to this house, since he, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.

Luke 19:1-10

REFLECTION – As the Paschal season draws near we say without a thought: “Tomorrow is the Lord’s Passion” and yet many years have passed since the Lord underwent his Passion, which took place once for all. This Sunday, too, we can rightly say: “The Lord is risen today” although many years have passed since Christ was raised. So why is it that no one comes to blame us for this “today” as though it were a lie?

Is it not because we say “today” because this day stands for the return, in the course of time, of the day on which the event we are commemorating took place? We are right to say “today”: today, indeed, the event that took place so long ago is fulfilled by our celebration of the mystery. In himself Christ was sacrificed once for all; nevertheless, he is sacrificed today in the mystery we celebrate, not only at every paschal feast but every day, for all people. This is not to lie, then, but to affirm: “Christ is sacrificed today.” For if the sacraments we are fulfilling did not have a genuine likeness to the reality of which they are the sign, they would not be sacraments. But it is precisely this likeness that allows us to call them by the same name as the reality of which they are the sign. And so the sacrament of the body of Christ we celebrate is, in some way, the body of Christ; the mystery of the blood of Christ that we fulfil is the blood of Christ. The sacramental mystery of faith is the reality in which we believe.

St Augustine

PRAYER – Almighty God, as we recall with joy, the Dedication of this house of Yours on each recurring anniversary, listen to Your people’s prayer and grant that our worship here may be a sincere and holy service, honouring Your Name and bringing us the fullness of redemption. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, in union with the Holy Spirit, one God for all eternity, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 8 November – The good grain and the weeds, mixed together in the Church until the Day of the Lord

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One Minute Reflection – 8 November – “Pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory” – Readings: Jer 29:11-12; 29:14, Ps 84:2, Col 3:12-17,Matt 13:24-30

And the servants of the householder came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’

Matt 13:24-30

REFLECTION – It happened not long ago that a follower of Lucifer had a dispute with a son of the Church. His loquacity was odious and the language he employed most abusive. For he declared that the world belonged to the devil, and, as is commonly said by them at the present day, that the Church was turned into a brothel. His opponent on the other hand, with reason indeed, but without due regard to time and place, urged that Christ did not die in vain, and that it was for something more than a Sardinian cloak of skins that the Son of God came down from heaven. To be brief, the dispute was not settled when night interrupted the debate, and the lighting of the street-lamps gave the signal for the assembly to disperse. The combatants therefore withdrew, almost spitting in each other’s faces, an arrangement having been previously made by the audience for a meeting in a quiet porch at daybreak. Thither, accordingly, they all came, and it was resolved that the words of both speakers should be taken down by reporters.

2. When all were seated, Helladius the Luciferian said, I want an answer first to my question. Are the Arians Christians or not?

Orthodoxus. I answer with another question, Are all heretics Christians?

L. If you call a man a heretic you deny that he is a Christian.

O. No heretics, then, are Christians.

L. I told you so before.

O. If they are not Christ’s, they belong to the devil.

L. No one doubts that.

St Jerome

Ninety-five Theses, by Martin Luther

PRAYER – O Lord our God, grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love and to be only good influences to our neighbour. May the prayers of the Blessed Virgin, all the Saints and Angels, ever intercede for the Church Militant and the Church Suffering, Amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 7 November – The finger of God

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One Minute Reflection – 7 November – Readings: Sedulius, Ps 44:2, Ecclus 24:14-16, Luke 11:27-28

At that time, as Jesus was speaking to the multitudes, a certain woman from the crowd lifted up her voice and said to Him, Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts that nursed You. But He said, Rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it.

Luke 11:27-28

REFLECTION – May your hand be ready to help me! The Father’s beloved Son is he whom we call the hand of God, he through whom God created all things. This hand intervened when it took our flesh, not simply without injury to his mother, but still more, according to the prophet’s testimony, by taking on himself all our sicknesses and bearing our sufferings.

Indeed, this hand laden with medicines and dressings has healed every ill. It has removed everything that leads to death and has raised people who were dead; it has broken the gates of hell, bound the strong one and stripped him of his weapons; it has opened heaven and poured out the Spirit of love into the hearts of its own. This hand sets prisoners free and gives light to the blind; it raises those who have fallen; it loves the just and protects the stranger; it welcomes the orphan and widow. It snatches from temptation those in danger of giving way to it, restores with its comforting those who suffer; it gives joy back to the afflicted and shelters the weary in its shade; it writes for those desiring to meditate its Law and touches and blesses the hearts of those who pray, strengthening them in love by its touch; it makes them progress and persevere in their works. Finally, it leads them to their homeland; it brings them back to the Father.

For if it has become flesh it is so that it may draw man through a man, joining our flesh to his flesh so as lovingly to bring back to God, the almighty and invisible Father, the straying sheep. Because this sheep had fallen in the flesh by abandoning God, the mystery of this hand’s Incarnation had to guide it, to lift it up and lead it back to the Father

St Amadeus of Lausanne

PRAYER – Lord God, Your Son has shown us the way. As we follow in His steps, may we never wander from the path that leads to life. Renew the wonders of Your grace in our hearts so that neither death nor life may separate us from Your love. Holy Father, as You were glorified by the life and death of all the Dominican Saints and Blesseds, grant that by their prayers, we may receive Your grace to give first to You and then to our neighbour in complete love and service. Through our Lord, Jesus Christ, with You in union with the Holy Spirit, one God for all eternity, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 10 November – The girl is not dead but sleeping

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One Minute Reflection – 10 November – “Month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory” – Readings: Jer 29:11-12; 29:14, Ps 84:2, Phil 3:17-21; 4:1-3, Matt 9:18-26

At that time, as Jesus was speaking to the crowds, behold, a ruler came up and worshipped Him, saying, “Lord, my daughter has just now died; but come and lay Your hand upon her, and she will return to life.”

Matt 9:18-26

REFLECTION – Let us consider, dear friends, how the Master is continually proving to us that there is to be a resurrection, of which he made the Lord Jesus Christ the first fruits when he raised him from the dead. Let us observe, dear friends, the resurrection that is regularly taking place. Day and night show us a resurrection; night falls asleep, day arises; day departs, night comes on. Let us take the crops; how and in what way does the sowing take place? The sower goes out and sows each seed in the ground. They fall into the ground dry and bare, and decay; then from their decay the greatness of the Master’s providence raises them up, and from a single grain many spring up and bear fruit. Do we, then, regard it as a great and marvellous thing for the Creator of all things to bring about the resurrection of those who have served him with holiness in the assurance of a good faith?

With this hope, then, let our souls be bound to him that is faithful to his promises and upright in his judgments. He who has commanded us not to lie will much more not lie himself. For nothing is impossible to God except lying. So let faith in him be rekindled in us, and let us understand that all things are possible to him.

With his majestic word he constituted all things and with a word he can overturn them. When he pleases, and as he pleases, he will do everything, and none of the things he has decreed will pass away. All things are in his sight and nothing has escaped his Providence.

St Clement of Rome

PRAYER – Lord God, You built Your Church on the firm foundation of the Apostle Peter and You promised that the gates of hell would never overcome it. So too, may we trust in Your power, that by our faith we may receive the grace to withstand the enemy who will not prevail against us. May we always serve You in our brother and may your Holy Spirit grant us the grace of fortitude to withstand our temptations and thus gain eternal life, supported by the prayers of all the Angels, Saints and our Blessed Mother Mary. Through Christ, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God now and forever, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 5 November – “Whoever believes in me will live”

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One Minute Reflection – 5 November – “Month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory” – Readings: Jer 29:11-12; 29:14, Ps 84:2, Phil 3:17-21; 4:1-3, Matt 9:18-26

He said, “Begone, the girl is asleep, not dead.” And they laughed Him to scorn. But when the crowd had been put out, He went in and took her by the hand; and the girl arose.

Matt 9:18-26

REFLECTION – “Whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live; and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” What is being said? “Whoever believes in me, even if he is dead like Lazarus, will live” because God is not God of the dead but God of the living. Already, concerning Abraham, Isaac and Jacob those long-dead patriarchs, Jesus had given the same reply: “He is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob; he is not God of the dead but of the living, for to him all are alive”. Believe, then; and though you were dead, you will live! But if you do not believe, then although you may be living, actually, you are dead. From where comes death in the soul? From the fact that faith is no longer there. From where comes the death of the body? From the fact that the soul is no longer there. The soul’s soul is faith.

“Whoever believes in me, even though he die in body will be alive in soul until the body itself rises again to die no more. And whoever lives in the flesh and believes in me, although he must die in his body for a season, will not die for ever because of the life of the Spirit and immortality of the resurrection.”

That is what Jesus' reply to Martha meant: “Do you believe this?” “Yes, Lord,” she answered, “I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world. Believing this, I have believed you are the resurrection; I have believed you are the life; I have believed that whoever believes in you, though he die, will live; I have believed that whoever lives and believes in you will never die eternally.”

St Augustine

PRAYER – Lord God, teach us humility, to give and not to count ever the cost to ourselves, to take the lowest part and the back seat – teach us Lord, to strive and not to seek for glory, save for that of Your Kingdom. Let us see Your Face, His Face, He our Teacher, our Saviour in the face of all those in most need. May all those great Jesuit Saints standing before that Face, pray for us! We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who we beg, have mercy on us all, who seek rewards for our own sakes, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 4 November – Follow me

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One Minute Reflection – 4 November – “Month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory” – Readings: Sir 45:30, Ps. 131:1, Sir 44:16-27; 45:3-20, Matt 25:14-23

The Lord made a covenant of friendship with him, and made him a prince; that he should possess the dignity of priesthood forever.

Sir 45:30

REFLECTION – May those who have been disinherited of wealth learn from the Church that, according to the judgment of God himself, poverty is not a disgrace, and that there is no need to blush with shame if you have to earn your daily bread through work. Jesus Christ Our Lord confirmed this by his example, he who for the salvation of men “made himself poor though he was rich.” He who was the Son of God and God himself wanted to be taken for the son of a worker in the eyes of the world. He went so far as to spend a large part of his life in doing paid work. “Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary?”

Whoever keeps his eyes on the divine model will understand that true human dignity and excellence dwells in a person’s habits, that is to say, in his virtue. Virtue is the common patrimony of mortals; it is available to everyone, to the small and to the great, the poor and the rich. Wherever they are seen, virtue and merit alone will obtain the reward of eternal beatitude. Even more, it seems that God’s heart is more inclined towards the less fortunate classes. Jesus Christ calls the poor blessed. With love he invites all who suffer and weep to come to him so that he might console them; he embraces with a more tender charity those who are small and oppressed. These teachings are certainly given in order to humble the haughty soul of the rich and to make him more compassionate, to raise the courage of those who suffer and to inspire them with trust.

Pope Leo XIII

PRAYER – Lord God, in Your wisdom, You created us, by Your providence You rule us, penetrate our inmost being with Your holy light, so that our way of life, may always be one of faithful service to You. With great love we thank You for the great gifts You shower upon us and for being our Father, who seeks and finds us when we are lost. Grant that by the intercession of St Charles Borromeo and St Emeric, we may ever seek to stay true to our baptism. Through Jesus, our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 3 November – The prayer of God’s children

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One Minute Reflection – 3 November – Readings: Jer 29:11-12; 29:14, Ps 84:2, Phil 3:17-21; 4:1-3, Matt 9:18-26

But Jesus, turning and seeing her, said, “Take courage, daughter; your faith has saved you.” And the woman was restored to health from that moment.

Matt 9:18-26

REFLECTION – This is how Our Lord tells us to pray: “Our Father who art in heaven.” A new man, reborn and restored to his God by his grace says in the first place “Father” because he has now begun to be a son. “He came,” the Gospel says, “unto his own and his own received him not. But as many as received him he gave to them the power to become the sons of God, to those who believe in his name”. He, therefore, who has believed in his name and has become the son of God, thereafter should begin to give thanks by professing himself son of God and by declaring that his father is God in heaven.

How great is the indulgence of the Lord, how great the abundance of his regard for us and his goodness, that he has thus wished us to offer prayer in the sight of God so as to call the Lord “Father”! And just as Christ is the Son of God, he wants us also to be pronounced the sons of God, which name no one of us would dare to take in prayer, had not he himself permitted us so to pray.

So, most beloved brethren, we ought to remember and to know that, when we speak of God, we ought to act as sons of God, so that, just as we are pleased with God as Father, so too he may be pleased with us. Let us live as if temples of God, that it may be clear that the Lord dwells in us.

St Cyprian

PRAYER – Holy God and Father, You sent Your Son to show us the way to our eternal home. Teach us always to understand that by relinquishing the things of this world and focusing our efforts only on following the Light He shines on our path, we may attain the eternal victory. May the prayers of Your our Blessed Mother, the Virgin Mary, assist us in carrying our cross after Him. Through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 2 November – It is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost

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One Minute Reflection – 2 November – Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed – All Souls Day – Readings: 4 Esd. 2:34-35, Ps 64:2-3, 1 Cor. 15:51-57), John 5:25-29

At that time, Jesus said to the multitudes of the Jews, Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is here, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear shall live.

John 5:25-29

REFLECTION – Come, Lord Jesus, seek your servant; seek your weary sheep; come, my shepherd. While you delay on the mountains, see!, your sheep is straying. So leave the ninety-nine that are safe in hand and come, look for the one that has strayed. Come, without seeking a helper, without making yourself known; it is you I am waiting for now. Take no whip; take up your love. Come with the gentleness of your Spirit. Don’t hesitate to leave the ninety-nine that belong to you on the mountains: wolves cannot reach the heights where you have set them… Come to me who have strayed far away from the flocks on high, for you had set me up there, too, but the night wolves made me leave your sheepfolds.

Seek me, Lord, since my prayer seeks you. Seek me, find me, take me up, carry me! He whom you seek, you can find; he whom you find, stoop to take up; and he whom you take up, set on your shoulders. This burden of your love is never a load for you and you unwearyingly make of yourself the toll-keeper of justice. So come, Lord, since, if it is true that I stray, yet “I do not forget your word” and still keep hoping for relief. Come, Lord, for you alone are still able to call your lost sheep and will cause no harm to those you will be leaving behind. They, too, will be happy to see the sinner return. Come! There will be redemption on earth and rejoicing in heaven.

Do not send your menservants, do not send hirelings: come and look for your sheep yourself. Take me up in that flesh that fell with Adam. By this act acknowledge in me, not the child of Eve but the son of Mary, pure virgin, virgin by grace, without stain of sin. Then carry me even to your cross, salvation of the straying, only rest for the weary, sole life of all who die.

St Ambrose

PRAYER – Merciful Father, hear our prayers and console us. As we renew our faith in Your Son, Whom You raised from the dead, strengthen our hope that all our departed brothers and sisters will share in His Resurrection, Who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 1 November – A pure soul possesses every power

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One Minute Reflection – 1 November – The Solemnity of All Saints, Readings: Ps 32:1, Apoc 7:2-12, Matt 5:1-12

Blessed are you when men reproach you, and persecute you, and, speaking falsely, say all manner of evil against you, for My sake. Rejoice and exult, because your reward is great in heaven.

Matt 5:1-12

REFLECTION – There is nothing so beautiful as a soul that is pure. If we understood this, we would be incapable of losing our purity. A pure soul is like a beautiful pearl. So long as it is concealed in a shell at the bottom of the sea no one thinks of admiring it. But if you display it in the sun then this pearl shines and draws people’s eyes. Purity comes from heaven: we have to ask God for it. If we ask for it we shall get it. We must take great care not to lose it. It closes our hearts to pride, sensuality and every other passion.

Children, we cannot understand the power that a pure soul has over the Good God: it gets all it wants. Before God a pure soul is like a child before its mother: it caresses her and hugs her and its mother returns its caresses and embraces.

To preserve our purity there are three things: the Presence of God, prayer and the sacraments.

St John Vianney

PRAYER – Father, All-Powerful and ever-living God, today we rejoice in the holy men and women of every time and place. May their prayers bring us your forgiveness and love. Blessed Virgin, Mother of God, our trusted guide and loving mother and all you holy Saints of the Church Triumphant, pray for us! We make our prayer through Christ our Lord, in union with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 31 October – Mary traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah

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One Minute Reflection – 31 October – The last day of the “Month of the Holy Rosary” – Readings: Sedulius, Ps 44:2, Ecclus 24:14-16, Luke 11:27-28

Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

Lk 1:28; 1:42

REFLECTION – By his voice alone Christ, to begin with, is recognized by his Church. For he first sent her his voice ahead of him through the prophets, and so, although he was not seen, he was heard. And he was heard through the things they proclaimed about him while the Bride, that is the Church, which has been gathered together since the beginning of time, heard his voice only until the time when she saw him with her eyes and said: “Behold, here he comes, leaping upon the mountains!”

Now every soul — if any there be who is constrained by love for the Word of God— is made happy and consoled when it feels the presence of the Bridegroom whenever some riddle or obscure saying of the Law or the Prophets hem it in. When he has begun to draw closer and closer to her senses and to illuminate things that are obscure then she sees him “leaping upon the mountains and the hills” so that this soul can rightly say: “Behold, he comes!” Certainly, the Bridegroom promises and tells his Bride, that is, his chosen disciples: “Behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world”.

Nevertheless he tells her elsewhere that he is going away to seek a kingdom for himself; and yet again it is said with reference to the absent Bridegroom that at midnight there was a cry made: “Behold, the Bridegroom comes!”. Thus the Bridegroom is sometimes present and teaching, and sometimes He is said to be absent and then He is desired. So also is it with the soul. When she is trying to understand something and desiring to know some obscure and secret matters, so long as she cannot find what she is looking for the Word of God is surely absent from her. But when the thing she seeks comes to meet her, and appears to her, who doubts but that the Word of God is present, illuminating her mind and offering to her the light of knowledge? If, then, we too want to see the Word of God, the Bridegroom of the soul, “leaping upon the mountains and skipping over the hills,” we must first hear his voice and then we shall be able to see him.

Origen

PRAYER – Lord God, You gave the peoples of the world as the inheritance of Your only Son; You crowned Him as King of Zion, Your holy city and gave Him Your Church to be His Bride. As He proclaims the law of Your eternal kingdom, may we serve Him faithfully and so share His royal power forever. We make our prayer, through Him and with Him and in Him, our King and our Redeemer, with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 30 October – Becoming a true image of God

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One Minute Reflection – 30 October – “Month of the Holy Rosary” and Mary’s Day – Readings: Ps 129:3-4, Ps 129:1-2, Phil 1:6-11, Matt 22:15-21

Then Jesus said to them, Whose are this image and the inscription?

Matt 22:15-21

REFLECTION – “Therefore give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” We are to give back to each their due. Now this is a saying that is truly full of wisdom and heavenly understanding because it teaches us that there are two sorts of power, one earthly and human, the other heavenly and divine. It teaches us that we are bound in this way to a twofold form of obedience, one to human laws and the other to divine. We are to pay Caesar with the coin bearing the image and inscription of Caesar and God with what has received the seal and image of the divine likeness: “The light of your countenance, O Lord, is signed upon us”.

We have been created in the image and likeness of God. You are a man, O Christian. So you are the money in the divine treasure-chest, a coin bearing the image and inscription of the divine emperor. From now on if I ask with Christ: “Whose image and inscription are these?”, you reply: “God's”. And I answer: “So why do you not give back to God what is his?”

If we truly want to be God's image then we must resemble Christ, since he is the image of God's goodness and “the very imprint of his being”. And God “predestined those he foreknew to be conformed to the image of his Son”. Christ truly gave back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God. He observed in the most perfect way possible the precepts contained in the two tablets of the divine law “becoming obedient unto death, even death on a cross”. Thus he was adorned in the highest degree with all virtues, both manifest and concealed.

St Lawrence of Brindisi

PRAYER – Lord Jesus, help us to appreciate and live Your spiritual virtues and give them the first place in our hearts. Grant that we may always seek them first and remain forever united with You. Send Your Spirit with His gifts and blessings and may the Mother of all Virtue, assist us in our need. Help us to follow the path of humility, the Blessed Virgin so splendidly taught us and may we always beseech Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, for her intercession, that we may obtain from You, a place in Your Kingdom. Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, pray for us. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God now and for all times, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 29 October – Let the light of your countenance shine upon us

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One Minute Reflection – 29 October – “Month of the Holy Rosary” – Readings: Ps 129:3-4, Ps 129:1-2, Phil 1:6-11, Matt 22:15-21

If You, O Lord, mark iniquities, Lord, who can stand? But with You is forgiveness, O God of Israel.

Ps 129:3-4

REFLECTION –Just as this coin bears the image of Caesar, so our soul is in the image of the Blessed Trinity, as one of the psalms says: “The light of thy countenance has been imprinted upon us”. Lord, the light of your countenance, that is to say the light of your grace that sets your image within us and makes us become like you, has been imprinted upon us, that is to say imprinted in our rational faculty, which is the highest power of our soul and receives this light as wax receives the mark of a seal. God’s countenance is our reason because, just as we recognize someone by his face, so we recognize God through the mirror of reason. However, this reason has been deformed by human sin since sin sets us against God. The grace of Christ has put our reason right. Hence, the apostle Paul says to the Ephesians: “Be renewed in your minds”. The light in question in this psalm is thus the grace that restores God’s image imprinted in our nature.

The whole Trinity has marked mankind with its likeness. With the memory it resembles the Father; with the understanding it resembles the Son; by love it resembles the Holy Spirit. From the beginning of creation man was made “in the image and likeness of God”. The image in his understanding of truth, the likeness in his love of virtue. The light on God's countenance is thus the grace that justifies us and brings to light once again our created image. This light constitutes man's whole good, his true good; it sets its mark on him just as the emperor's image marked the coin. That is why the Lord adds: “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar”. It was as if he said: Just as you repay Caesar with his image so repay God with your soul, beautified and marked by the light of his countenance.

St Anthony of Padua

PRAYER – Almighty, ever-living God, shed the light of Your glory on the peoples who are living in the shadow of death, as You did long ago, when our Lord Jesus Christ, the Sun of Justice, came among us from on high. As He taught us the way to life may we keep the precepts and finally reach our everlasting home. May the Mother of Jesus, our Lord and our always loving and merciful Mother, keep us forever in her prayers. With Jesus our Lord and our God, with the Holy Spirit, one God with You now and for all eternity, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 28 October – “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you”

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One Minute Reflection – 28 October – Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles and Martyrs – Readings: Ps 138:17, Ps 138:1-2, Eph. 4:7-13, John 15:17-25

Remember the word that I have spoken to you: No servant is greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also; if they have kept My word, they will keep yours also.

John 15:17-25

REFLECTION – I rejoice with you greatly in our Lord Jesus Christ that you welcomed the copies of true love [Ignatius of Antioch and his companions] who were encumbered with saintly chains, which are the diadems of those truly chosen by God and our Lord. And I rejoice because the deep root of your faith, which has been renowned from early times, still lasts and bears fruit to our Lord Jesus Christ, who for our sins endured even facing death, and whom “God raised, releasing him from the throes of death”. “Though you have not seen him, you believe with unutterable, triumphant joy”. “He who raised him from the dead will raise us also”, if we do his will and live by his commands and love what he loved. Let us be imitators of his endurance, and if we suffer for his sake, let us glorify him. For he set us this example himself, and this is what we have believed.

So I beg you all to obey the message of uprightness and to exhibit all endurance, such as you saw with your own eyes not only in the blessed Ignatius and Zosimus and Rufus, but also in others of your number, and in Paul himself and the rest of the apostles, being assured that all these “have not run in vain”, but in faith and uprightness, and that they are in the place that they have deserved with the Lord, with whom they suffered. For they did not “love the present world”, but Christ who died for us and was raised up by God for our sakes.

St Polycarp

PRAYER – Lord God, You taught us to call upon Your name, through the preaching of the Apostles. Open our eyes each day, grant that we may see Jesus Your Son at our side, open our ears that we may hear His voice, open our mouths, that we may beg forgiveness and proclaim the good news, as we follow the way Your Son carved out for us. At the intercession of Sts Simon and Jude, may Your Church continue to grow and to hope in Your love. We make our prayer through Jesus our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 27 October – “Whose image is this?”

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One Minute Reflection – 27 October – “Month of the Holy Rosary” – Readings: Ps 129:3-4, Ps 129:1-2, Phil 1:6-11, Matt 22:15-21

Then Jesus said to them, Whose are this image and the inscription?

Matt 22:15-21

REFLECTION – At the beginning of the world all things were made by the Word of God “and without him nothing came to be”. Now man, too, had his existence from the Word of God because of the principle that there should be nothing without that Word. “Let us make man,” God said before he created him, and added, “with our hand” to express his pre-eminence so that he might not be compared to the rest of creation.“ And God,” says Scripture, “formed man”.

”And God formed man from the clay of the earth.” He now became man who was hitherto clay. That poor, paltry material, clay, found its way into the hands of God, happy enough at being merely touched by them. But why this honour? Was it that, without any further labour, the clay had instantly assumed its form at the touch of God? The truth is, a great matter was in progress out of which the creature under consideration was being fashioned. It is honoured whenever it experiences the hands of God, when it is touched by them, and pulled, and drawn out, and moulded into shape. Imagine God wholly absorbed in it: in his hand, his eye, his labor, his purpose, his wisdom, his providence and, above all, in his love, which was dictating the lineaments of this creature. For whatever was the form and expression given to the clay, Christ was in God’s thoughts as one day to become man, because the Word, too, was to be both clay and flesh even as the earth was then.

This is the meaning of the Father’s first words to his Son: “Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness”. God made man, the creature which he moulded and fashioned, in the image of God, in other words of Christ. Thus, that clay that was even then putting on the image of Christ who was to come in the flesh, was not only the work but the pledge and surety given by God.

Tertullian

PRAYER – Shed Your clear light on our hearts, Lord, so that walking continually in the way of Your commandments, we may never be deceived or misled. Grant that the prayers of our Blessed Mother, who always holds Your Light up for others to see by, give us strength. Through Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 26 October – On fulfilling ones duties

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One Minute Reflection – 26 October – Readings: Ps 129:3-4, Ps 129:1-2, Phil 1:6-11, Matt 22:15-21

Then He said to them, Render, therefore, to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.

Matt 22:15-21

REFLECTION – The good order of things in this world depends upon the fidelity with which each person performs the duties of their state of life. All disorder originates in negligence upon this point. What a grand thing it would be if all acquitted themselves of their duties! It is perhaps the thing that is most neglected even among pious people, indeed probably more often among those than among others. Yet people do not accuse themselves of it.

People who neglect the duties of their state are discordant voices in the harmony of the world, no matter what else they do. In choosing a state of life, the human advantages are considered but not the duties. It is impossible to neglect these duties without harming others. And as God has their interests at heart even more than his own, such neglect is very dangerous.

Sins of omission on this point are easily committed. They are hardly noticed, and consequently reparation is rarely made for them. These are sins that are committed by doing nothing; sins that do not consist in bad actions but which are often the consequence of some good work. By neglecting your duties, you condemn both yourself and others to punishment: others because you do not teach their duty and make them fulfil it; and yourself because you do not fulfil your own.

Bl Claude la Colombière

PRAYER – True light of the world, Lord Jesus Christ, as You enlighten all men for their salvation, give us grace, we pray, to herald Your coming by preparing the ways of justice and of peace. Help us Lord, that we may sprout and bear fruit, fitting to grow and be a home of comfort to our neighbour. By the prayers of St Alfred the Great, may we too be beacons of Your Light and of the glory of Your Kingdom. Through Jesus our Lord, Who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 25 October – “Above him there was an inscription that read: ‘This is the King of the Jews’”

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One Minute Reflection – 25 October – “Month of the Holy Rosary” – Readings: Apoc 5:12; 1:6, Ps 71:1, Col 1:12-20, John 18:33-37

Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My followers would certainly have fought that I might not be delivered to the Hebrews. But, as it is, My kingdom is not from here. Pilate therefore said to Him, You are then a King? Jesus answered, You say it: I am a King.

John 18:33-37

REFLECTION – “Lord, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” The criminal did not venture to make this prayer before he had laid down the burden of his sins with his confession. So you see, O Christian, the power of confession. He acknowledged his sins and paradise was opened; he acknowledged his sins and gained confidence enough to ask for the Kingdom in spite of his deeds of robbery.

Do you want to know the Kingdom? What can you see here that is like it? You have the nails and cross before your eyes but this cross, said Jesus, is itself the very sign of the Kingdom. As for me, when I see him on the cross, I proclaim him king. Isn’t it the duty of a king to die for his subjects? He himself has said that: “The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep,”. This is no less true for a good king; he, too, lays down his life for his subjects. So I will proclaim him king on account of the gift he has made of his life: “Lord, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”

Do you understand now how it is that the cross is the sign of the Kingdom? Here is yet another proof. Christ did not leave his cross on earth but took it up and bore it with him into heaven. We know this because he will have it with him when he returns in glory. To teach you how much this cross is worthy of veneration, he has made it a sign of glory. When the Son of Man comes: “the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light.” Then shall reign a light so bright that even the brightest stars will be eclipsed. “The stars will fall from the sky. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven,”. Do you understand the power of the sign of the cross? When a king enters a city, soldiers take up their standards, hoist them onto their shoulders and march in front of him to announce his arrival. In the same way, legions of angels and archangels will go before Christ when he comes from heaven. They will bear this sign on their shoulders announcing the coming of our king.

St John Chrysostom

PRAYER – Come to help us in our weakness, God of mercy, forgive the sins of Your people and as nothing we can do is worthy in Your sight, save us through the intercession of the Mother of our Lord, Jesus Christ. May the prayers of all your saints be offered to You on our behalf. We make our prayer through Jesus with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 24 October – “Do you want to be healed ?”

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One Minute Reflection – 24 October – “Month of the Holy Rosary”- Readings: Ps 102:20, Ps 102:1, Tob 12:7-15, John 5:1-4

For an Angel of the Lord used to come down at certain times into the pool, and the water was troubled. And the first to go down into the pool after the troubling of the water was cured of whatever infirmity he had.

John 5:1-4

REFLECTION – Christ’s miracles are symbols of the different events of our eternal salvation, this pool is the symbol of the precious gift the Lord’s Word gives us. To sum up, this water is the Jewish people; the five porticos are the Law that Moses wrote in five books. And so this pool was surrounded by five porticos like the people enclosed by the Law. The water that was stirred and troubled is the Savior’s Passion in this people’s midst. Whoever went down into this water was healed – but only one person so as to express unity. Those who were unable to bear anyone speaking to them about the Passion are the proud; they do not want to go down and are not healed. “What!” says that arrogant man: “Believe a God to be incarnate, that a God was born of a woman, that a God has been crucified, scourged, covered in wounds, that he died and has been buried? No, I would never believe in these humiliations of a God, they are unworthy of him.”

Let your heart speak here rather than your head. The humiliations of a God seem unworthy to the arrogant and that is why they are very far from a cure. So protect yourself from this pride; if you desire your healing, accept to go down. There would be something to be worried about if someone said to you that Christ had undergone some sort of change in becoming incarnate. But no, your God remains what he was, have no fear; he does not perish and he prevents you yourselves from perishing. Yes, he remains what he is; he is born of a woman but according to the flesh. It is as man that he has been seized, bound, scourged, mocked and finally crucified and put to death. Why be afraid? The Word of the Lord remains forever. Anyone who refuses these humiliations of a God does not want to be cured of the mortal swelling of his pride.

By his incarnation our Lord Jesus Christ has therefore restored hope to our flesh. He assumed the fruits of this earth that are only too well known and common: birth and death. Birth and death: here indeed are goods that the earth possesses in abundance! But in them were found neither resurrection nor eternal life. He found here the unfortunate fruits of this unfruitful earth and gave us in exchange the possessions of his heavenly kingdom.

St Augustine

PRAYER – Lord God of Hosts, in Your all-wise Providence, You assign to Angels and to men, the services they have to render You. Grant that the Angels who adore You in Heaven, may protect and guide us here on earth. We make our prayer through Jesus Christ in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God now and for all eternity, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 23 October – Be on the alert!

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One Minute Reflection – 23 October – “Month of the Holy Rosary” – Readings: Ps 131:9-10., Ps 131:1, Heb 7:23-27, Matt 24:42-47

Watch, for you do not know at what hour your Lord is to come. But of this be assured, that if the householder had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would certainly have watched, and not have let his house be broken into.

Matt 24:42-47

REFLECTION – Listen to my words and give ear to my humble discourses; I cry out to you all, I exhort you: “Lift up your hearts to God, unbind yourselves from your attachment to the passions!” Here is what the prophet cries to you: “Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob”, which is that of impassibility, and let us contemplate with the eyes of our minds the joy held in store for us by the heavenly promises.

My beloved children, gather up your fervor, take wings of fire like the dove, as it is written, fly away, place yourselves among the virtuous, those on the right side. Receive joy, spiritual desire, impassioned for God. Taste the great sweetness of his love and, by it, considering all else as secondary, tread vainglory underfoot, the desire of the flesh and bitter anger!

Let us hike up our tunics, be on the alert, have eagle eyes: this is the speediest flight for the trip that leads us from earth to heaven! It is true that travelers can have something to endure. And this happens to you too: indeed, as you see, you struggle under hard labors, you tire yourselves, you work the ground until you are out of breath, you pour with sweat, you are at the end of your strength, hungry, thirsty, one of you laboring at the plow, the other cultivating the vineyard, another pressing oil, or cooking, constructing, making bread or busy about the cellar. Briefly, each is at their post. All go forward on the highway to God, they approach the great city and, in death, they will have entry to the unutterable joy of the good things God reserves for all those who have loved him.

May we be accounted worthy of the kingdom of Christ himself, our God, to whom belongs all glory and power with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and forever, world without end. Amen.

St Theodore the Studite

PRAYER – Heavenly Father, help me to keep my death constantly before my eyes, for this is my final account. I pray You for a holy life that my death may be holy and that I may come to You and live for all eternity with You. May each moment of my life, the good and the trials, bear abundant fruit for love of You. When my hour is come, bid me come to You, Lord. Hear the prayers of your Saints and the Mother of Your divine Son, who lived each moment of her life for the glory of Your Kingdom. We ask this through Christ, our Lord with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 22 October – “Forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors”

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One Minute Reflection – 22 October – “Month of the Holy Rosary”– Readings: Esth 13:9-11, Ps 118:1, Eph 6:10-17, Matt 18:23-35

His fellow-servants therefore, seeing what had happened, were very much saddened, and they went and informed their master of what had taken place.

Matt 18:23-35

REFLECTION – The Lord demands that we ourselves forgive the debts of our debtors just as we, too, ask that our own be forgiven. We should know that we cannot receive what we ask with regard to our own sins unless we do the same for those who have sinned against us. And so Christ says elsewhere: “The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you,”. And the servant who, having been freed from all his debt, was unwilling to forgive that of his fellow servant was thrown into prison. Because he would not spare his fellow, he lost that for which his master had spared him. Christ establishes this even more forcibly in his precepts when he decrees that: “When you stand to pray, forgive anyone against whom you have a grievance, so that your heavenly Father may in turn forgive you your transgressions. But if you do not forgive, neither will your heavenly Father forgive your transgressions,”.

When Abel and Cain first of all offered sacrifice, God did not look at their offerings but at their hearts. The one whose offering was pleasing to him was the one whose heart was pleasing to him. Abel, the peaceful and just one, by making his offering to God in innocence, taught others to come forward in the fear of God to offer their gift at the altar, with a simple heart, a sense of justice, harmony and peace. By offering sacrifice to God with such dispositions as these he merited to become a precious offering himself and to be the first to offer the witness of martyrdom. By the glory of his blood he prefigured the Lord's Passion because he possessed the Lord's righteousness and peace. Men like these are they who are crowned by the Lord and who will obtain justice along with him on the day of judgement.

St Cyprian

PRAYER – Lord God, You fill us with Your grace and teach us true faith. Strengthen in our hearts that faith that no trials may quench the fire, that we may seek Your Face in every moment and accept and live all of Your will. Send us Your Spirit to keep the fire blazing. By the inspiration and prayers of the Blessed Virgin, may we grow in sanctity and may the humble love and intercession of Mary Mother of our faith, be our succour. Through Jesus Your Son our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 21 October – “Should you not have dealt mercifully with your fellow servant, as I dealt with you?”

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One Minute Reflection – 21 October – – “Month of the Most Holy Rosary” – Readings: Esth 13:9-11, Ps 118:1, Eph 6:10-17, Matt 18:23-35

And his master, being angry, handed him over to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. So also My heavenly Father will do to you, if you do not each forgive your brothers from your hearts.

Matt 18:23-35

REFLECTION – On the one hand, compassion, and on the other the judgment of simple equity; if they dwell in one and the same soul, they are like a person who adores God and idols in one and the same house. Compassion is the contrary to the judgment of simple justice. Judgment that is simply equitable implies the equal sharing out of a similar measure for everyone. It gives to each what he deserves, no more; it does not lean towards one side or the other, exercises no discernment in its distribution. But compassion arises because of grace: it leans towards all beings with the same affection – not accepting to give simple retribution to those who are worthy of punishment – and it fills beyond all measure those who are worthy of good.

Thus compassion is on the side of justice; judgment that is simply equitable is on the side of evil. Just as a grain of sand does not weigh so much as a heap of gold does, God’s equitable justice does not weigh as much as his compassion. The sins of all flesh are like a handful of sand falling into the great ocean compared to God’s providence and mercy. Just as an abundantly flowing spring cannot be stopped up by a handful of dust, so the Creator’s compassion cannot be overcome by the malice of creatures. The person who remains resentful while praying is like a person who sows in the sea and hopes to gather in a harvest!

Isaac the Syrian

PRAYER – Father, grant that we may be,
bearers of Christ Jesus, Your Son.
Allow us to fill with Your light
the world around us.
Strengthen us by Your Holy Spirit
to carry out our mission
of living and following
the path of Jesus, our Lord.
Help us to understand,
that by Your grace
Your gifts are Your blessings,
to be shared with others.
Fill us with Your Spirit of love
to give glory to You
in loving all
and preaching by our love.
Nourish in us the desire
to go forth
as the bearers of Your Son
fearless and gentle,
loving and merciful.
Make us true Christ-bearers,
that in seeing us
only He is visible.
Amen (The Christopher Prayer – Unknown)

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One Minute Reflection – 20 October – Dies irae

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One Minute Reflection – 20 October – “Month of the Most Holy Rosary” – Readings: Sir 18:12-13, Ps 1:1, James 2:12-17, Luke 12:35-40

So speak and so act as men about to be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to him who has not shown mercy; but mercy triumphs over judgment. What will it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but does not have works? Can the faith save him?

James 2:12-17

REFLECTION – Mark the agreement of prophet with prophet. Acquaint yourself also with another prophet who expresses himself in like manner. For Amos prophesied of the same things in a manner quite in accordance: Thus says the Lord, forasmuch therefore as you have beaten the poor with the fist, and taken choice gifts from him: you have built houses, but you shall not dwell in them: you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink wine of them. For I know your manifold transgressions, in trampling justice beneath your foot, and taking a bribe, and turning aside the poor in the gate from their right.

Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time, for it is an evil time. Learn, beloved, the wickedness of the men of that time, how they spoil houses and fields, and take even justice from the just; for when these things come to pass, you may know that it is the end. For this reason are you instructed in the wisdom of the prophet, and the revelation that is to be in those days. And all the prophets, as we bare already said, have clearly signified the things that are to come to pass in the last times, just as they also have declared things of old.

Pseudo-Hippolytus

PRAYER – Holy Father, grant me an operative faith, a faith that will move mountains. Enlighten my soul with Your Light, Goodness, Power and Wisdom. Let my faith be an image of You by lively deeds and love and by conforming myself to Your Will in all things. Blessed Mother, you longed only to serve the God of all, teach us by your prayer, to serve God alone with upright hearts and fight by the Truth against all tyranny and evilh, through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 19 October – “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth”

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One Minute Reflection – 19 October – “Month of the Most Holy Rosary” – Readings: Ps 91:13-14, Ps 91:2, Phil 3:7-12, Ps 36:30-31, Luke 12:32-34

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, Do not be afraid, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have and give alms. Make for yourselves purses that do not grow old, a treasure unfailing in heaven, where neither thief draws near nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.

Luke 12:32-34

REFLECTION – Why distress yourself and go to such effort to conceal your wealth behind bricks and mortar? “A good name is more desirable than great riches”. The reason you love money is because of the attention it wins you. But think how much greater your renown will be if you can be called the father and protector of thousands of children rather than by keeping thousands of gold pieces in your money-bags. Whether you like it or not, one of these days you will have to leave your money there; whereas you will take with you the glory for all the good things you have done before our sovereign Lord, while a whole lot of people, rushing to your defence before the judge of us all, will call out the names that declare you have fed them, helped them, and shown them kindness.

How thankful, happy and proud must you be for the honor shown you: it isn't you who must go to pester others at their door, others will come flocking to your own. Yet right now you are grumpy, you make yourself inaccessible, you run away from encounters for fear of having to let go of a little of what you are so jealously guarding. And you only have one thing to say: “I haven't anything, I won't give you anything, because I am poor.” You are poor indeed, poor of everything good: poor in love, poor in goodness, poor in trust in God, poor in your everlasting expectations.

St Basil

PRAYER – All-powerful, eternal God and Father, grant us the grace of Your Spirit and fill us with the light of understanding and love. May we learn to truly pray and by our prayers to entreat You to bless us in Your goodness and lead us to true faith in Your eternal light and Word sent to redeem us. May we always be waiting and prepared to open the door of our hearts to Jesus Christ our Lord, who comes in light, love and peace. Grant that by the prayers of all Your Angels and Saints, we may be strengthened. Holy Mother, be our protection and our guide. We make our prayer through Jesus Christ, our Lord with the Holy Spirit, God now and forever, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 18 October – “Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?”

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One Minute Reflection – 18 October – The Feast of St Luke the Evangelist – Readings: Esth 13:9-11, Ps 118:1, Eph 6:10-17, Matt 18:23-35

At that time, Jesus spoke to His disciples this parable: The kingdom of heaven is likened to a king who desired to settle accounts with his servants.

Matt 18:23-35

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. 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”. 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 poor in accordance with your means.

St Caesarius of Arles

PRAYER – O Lord, we beseech Thee, that Luke, Thy holy Evangelist, who for the honour of Thy Name bore continuously in his body the suffering of the Cross, may intercede on our behalf. Through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen

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One Minute Reflection – 17 October – “I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth”

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One Minute Reflection – 17 October – “Month of the Most Holy Rosary” – Readings: Cant 2:3, Ps 83:2-3, Eph 3:8-9, 14-19, Matt 11:25-30

At that time, Jesus spoke and said, I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You hid these things from the wise and prudent, and revealed them to little ones.

Matt 11:25-30

REFLECTION – Thanks, thanks be to you, eternal Father, that you have not despised me, your handiwork, nor turned your face from me, nor made light of these desires of mine. You, Light, have disregarded my darksomeness; you, Life, have not considered that I am death; nor you, Doctor, considered these grave weaknesses of mine. You, eternal Purity, have disregarded my wretched filthiness; you who are infinite have overlooked the fact that I am finite, and you, Wisdom, the fact that I am foolishness. For all these and so many other endless evils and sins of mine, your wisdom, your kindness, your mercy, your infinite goodness have not despised me. No, in your light you have given me light. In your wisdom I have come to know the truth; in your mercy I have found your charity and affection for my neighbors. What has compelled you? Not my virtues but only your charity. Let this same love compel you to enlighten the eye of my understanding with the light of faith, so that I may know your truth, which you have revealed to me.

Let my memory be great enough to hold your favors, and set my will ablaze in your charity’s fire. Let that fire burst the seed of my body and bring forth blood; then with that blood, given for love of your blood, and with the key of obedience, let me unlock heaven’s gate. I heartily ask the same of you for every reasoning creature, all and each of them, and for the mystic body of holy Church. I acknowledge, and do not deny, that you loved me before I existed, and that you love me unspeakably much, as one gone mad over your creature.

St Catherine of Siena

PRAYER – Holy Father, grant me an operative faith, a faith that will move mountains. Enlighten my soul with Your Light, Goodness, Power and Wisdom. Let my faith be an image of You by lively deeds and love and by conforming myself to Your Will in all things. As the Blessed Virgin, Mother of Your only-begotten Son, longed only to serve the God of all in complete self-denial and humility, may we always strive to imitate her Fiat in serving You, with upright hearts and thus manifest a true faith, through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 16 October – it shines like a pearl

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Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. When he finds a single pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it. So will it be at the end of the world. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from among the just, and will cast them into the furnace of fire, where there will be the weeping, and the gnashing of teeth.

Matt 13:44-52

REFLECTION – And if you be willing to produce in the midst a miser’s soul; like a garment eaten by innumerable worms, and not having any sound part, even so will you find it, perforated on all sides by cares; rotted, cankered by sins.

But not such the poor man’s soul, the soul of him, I mean, that is voluntarily poor; but it is resplendent as gold, it shines like a pearl, and it blooms like a rose. For no moth is there, no thief is there, no worldly care, but as angels converse, so do they.

Would you see the beauty of this soul? Would you acquaint yourself with the riches of poverty? He commands not men, but he commands evil spirits. He stands not at a king’s side, but he has taken his stand near to God. He is the comrade, not of men, but of angels. He has not chests, two, or three, or twenty, but such an abundance as to account the whole world as nothing. He has not a treasure, but heaven. He needs not slaves, or rather has his passions for slaves, has for slaves the motives that rule over kings. For that which commands him who wears the purple, that motive shrinks before him. And royalty, and gold, and all such things, he laughs at, as at children’s toys; and like hoops, and dice, and heads, and balls, so does he count all these to be contemptible. For he has an adorning, which they who play with these things cannot even see.

What then can be superior to this poor man? He has at least heaven for his pavement; but if the pavement be like this, imagine the roof!

St John Chrysostom

PRAYER – All-powerful, eternal God, grant us the grace of Your Spirit and fill us with the light of understanding and love. Grant that by the prayers of your Saints we may be strengthened and depend only on You. Holy Queen of the Holy Rosary, our Mother Mary and St Hedwig, pray for us. We make our prayer through Jesus, our Lord with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 15 October – “Follow me”

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 15 October – Readings: Ps 44:8, Ps 44:2, 2 Cor 10:17-18; 11:1-2, Matt 25:1-13

At that time Jesus spoke this parable to His disciples: “Then will the kingdom of heaven be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom and the bride. Five of them were foolish and five wise.

Matt 25:1-13

REFLECTION – In this world, which is to say in the Church wholly following Christ, he says to all of us: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself”. This command is not being directed to virgins but not married women, to widows but not wives, to monks but not husbands, to priests but not laity. It is the whole Church, the whole Body of Christ with all its members, differentiated and divided according to their proper functions, that is to follow Christ. May she wholly follow him, she who is one alone, the dove, the bride; may she follow him, she who has been redeemed and endowed with the blood of her Bridegroom. Virginal purity has its place here; the continence of widows has its place here; wedded chastity has its place here.

These members who have their place here should follow Christ, each according to their category, each according to their status, each after its fashion. Let them deny themselves, that is to say let them not rely on themselves. Let them carry their cross, that is to say bear for Christ's sake in the world all that the world inflicts on them. May they love him, he the only one who never deceives or is deceived, the only one who is not mistaken. May they love him because what he promises is true. Yet because he does not give it to us now our faith falters. Keep going, persevere, bear and accept this delay, and you have carried his cross.

St Augustine

PRAYER – Lord Jesus Christ, You wondrously revealed all of the deep treasures of Your Heart to St Teresa. May her merits and example win us the grace to love You above all things and in all things so that we may make our abode in Your own Sacred Heart. Through You, Lord Jesus, who live and reign forever, in union with God our Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 14 October – “I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven”

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 14 October – “Month of the Holy Rosary” – Readings: John 21:15-17, Ps 29:2, 1 Pet 5:1-4; 5:10-11, Matt 16:13-19

And Jesus answering, said to him: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.

Matt 16:13-19

REFLECTION – The Lord recognised in Peter a faithful steward to whom he entrusted the key of the Kingdom and, in Paul, a skilled master to whom he gave responsibility for teaching in the Church. So that those whom Paul has formed might find salvation, Peter must receive them into their rest. When Paul has opened hearts by his preaching, Peter will open the Kingdom of heaven to souls. So it is a kind of key that Paul, too, has received from Christ: the key of knowledge, enabling him to open up to their very depths hearts hardened towards the faith. Then, in spiritual unveiling, it causes what was hidden within to appear in the light of day. This is a key that allows the confession of sin to escape from consciences and locks within them for ever the grace of the Savior’s mystery.

So both have received keys from the Lord's hands: the key of knowledge for the one and the key of authority for the other; the former metes out the riches of immortality, the latter dispenses treasures of wisdom. For there are treasures of knowledge, as it is written: this mystery is Christ “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,”

St Maximus of Turin

PRAYER – I Love You, O My God – By St Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney (1786-1859)
I love You,
O my God
and my only desire is to love You
until the last breath of my life.
I love You,
O my infinitely lovable God
and I would rather die loving You,
than live without loving You.
I love You, Lord
and the only grace I ask,
is to love You eternally
My God,
if my tongue cannot say
in every moment that I love You,
I want my heart to repeat it to You
as often as I draw breath.
Amen

Posted in ONE Minute REFLECTION

One Minute Reflection- 13 October – Unless you see signs and wonders, you do not believe.

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection- 13 October – “Month of the Holy Rosary” and the Anniversary of the Last Apparition of Our Lady of Fatima and the Miracle of the Sun – Readings: Dan 3:31; 3:29; 3:35, Ps 118:1, Eph 5:15-21, John 4:46-53

When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and besought Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. Jesus therefore said to him, Unless you see signs and wonders, you do not believe.

John 4:46-53

REFLECTION – Yet the very coming and beseeching Him was a mark of faith. And besides, after this the Evangelist witnesses to him, declaring that when Jesus said, Go, your son lives, he believed His word, and went. What then is that which He says here? Either He uses the words as approving of the Samaritans because they believed without signs; or, to touch Capernaum which was thought to be His own city, and of which this person was. Moreover, another man in Luke, who says, Lord, I believe, said besides, help my unbelief. And so if this ruler also believed, yet he believed not entirely or soundly, as is clear from his enquiring at what hour the fever left him, since he desired to know whether it did so of its own accord, or at the bidding of Christ. When therefore he knew that it was yesterday at the seventh hour, then himself believed and his whole house.

Do you see that he believed when his servants, not when Christ spoke? Therefore He rebukes the state of mind with which he had come to Him, and spoken as he did, (thus too He the more drew him on to belief,) because that before the miracle he had not believed strongly. That he came and entreated was nothing wonderful, for parents in their great affection are also wont to resort not only to physicians in whom they have confidence, but also to talk with those in whom they have no confidence, desiring to omit nothing whatever. Indeed, that he came without any strong purpose appears from this, that when Christ had come into Galilee, then he saw Him, whereas if he had firmly believed in Him, he would not, when his child was on the point of death, have hesitated to go into Judæa. Or if he was afraid, this is not to be endured either.

Observe how the very words show the weakness of the man; when he ought, after Christ had rebuked his state of mind, to have imagined something great concerning Him, even if he did not so before, listen how he drags along the ground.

St John Chrysostom

PRAYER – Lord God, open our hearts to Your Grace, that we may be filled with Your light and overflow with gratitude for Your merciful love. May we love and adore and worship You in return. Although we are sinners, our hearts long to thank You in total trust and humble thankfulness. Grant that by the prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Fatima, our Mother, we may grow in holiness. Through Your only Son, our Saviour and Redeemer, with the Holy Spirit, God, forever, amen.

Posted in ONE Minute REFLECTION

One Minute Reflection – 12 October – “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.”

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 12 October – “Month of the Holy Rosary” – Readings: Dan 3:31; 3:29; 3:35, Ps 118:1, Eph 5:15-21, John 4:46-53

By the streams of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered you, O Sion.

Ps 136:1

REFLECTION – “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”.
But I, I do not just call on him: above all else I believe in his greatness.

Not for his gifts do I persevere in my pleading, but because he is true Life and in him I breathe. Without him there is neither movement nor advance.

Not so much by the bonds of hope but by the bonds of love am I drawn. Not for the gifts but for the Giver do I long. It is not glory that I am reaching out for but the glorified Lord whom I desire to embrace. The thirst for life is not what is consuming me but the remembrance of him who gives life.

The desire for happiness is not why I am sighing, why I break into sobs from the depths of my heart, but from the desire for him who prepares it. It is not for rest I am seeking but for the face of him who will pacify my suppliant heart. I am pining, not for the wedding feast, but because of my desire for the Bridegroom.

In sure expectation of his power in spite of the burden of my sins, I believe with unquenchable hope, while entrusting myself into the hands of the Almighty, that I shall not simply gain forgiveness but will see him face to face thanks to his mercy and pity, and though I fully deserve to be banished, I shall come into possession of heaven.

St Gregory of Narek

PRAYER – Lord God, open our hearts to Your Grace, that we may be filled with Your light and overflow with gratitude for Your merciful love. May we love and adore and worship You in return. Although we are sinners, our hearts long to thank You in total trust and humble thankfulness. Grant that by the prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary Queen of our Hearts and of the humble St Serafino, we may grow in holiness. Through Your only Son, our Saviour and Redeemer, with the Holy Spirit, God, forever, amen.