Category: ONE Minute REFLECTION

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One Minute Reflection – 12 September – May the most glorious Virgin Mother Mary be jubilant !

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One Minute Reflection – 12 September – Readings: Ps 44:13, 15-16., Ps 44:2, Sir 24:23-31, Luke 1:26-38

At that time, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary.

Luke 1:26-38

REFLECTION – May the holy divinity of your glory, my God, O my gentleness, with which you deigned to fill and to inhabit for nine months the chaste viscera of the Virgin Mary, bless you. May the highest virtue of your divinity, which bent to the humbleness of the virginal valley, bless you. May the utmost art of your almightiness, God most high, with which you imparted onto the virgin rose such virtue, radiance, and comeliness as you yourself could yearn for, bless you. May your wondrous wisdom, whose copious grace made all of Mary’s life and body, as well as her soul, comparable with your worthiness, bless you. May you strong, wise and most dulcet love which made you, the flower and spouse of virginity, become the Son of a virgin, bless you.

May the worthiest heart and soul of the most glorious Virgin Mother Mary (whom, because of my need for salvation, you chose for yourself as mother and that her motherly clemency might always be open to me) be jubilant to you on my behalf. May that most faithful concern which is yours for me (by which you have provided me with an advocate and patron saint of such capability that through her I may easily be able to find your grace, and in whom, I trustfully believe, your eternal mercy is preserved for me) be jubilant to you. May that wonderful tabernacle of your glory, which alone has ministered to you worthily as a holy dwelling place, and through which you can best make amends for me to yourself for the due measure of praise and glory that I owe you, be jubilant to you.

Saint Gertrude of Helfta

PRAYER – Heavenly Father, assist us at all times we pray, to obtain a spirit of worthy penance, for our sins and that of all the world. To the invocation of Your Divine Son, Jesus, we call on the intercession of His holy Mother, to aid us on our pilgrimage. With great affection and confidence, we honour the Holy Hearts and invoke the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, to be our constant source of pure assistance and succour that we might bear fruits worthy of their Names. Blessed be the Name of Mary! Amen

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One Minute Reflection – 11 September – “When the Lord saw her… he said to her: ‘Do not weep’”

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One Minute Reflection – 11 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary” – Readings: Ps 85:1-3, Ps 85:4, Gal 5:25-26; 6:1-10, Luke 7:11-16

And as He drew near the gate of the town, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a large gathering from the town was with her. And the Lord, seeing her, had compassion on her, and said to her, Do not weep.

Luke 7:11-16

REFLECTION – Christ, hope of the believer, does not call those who leave this world ‘dead’ but ‘sleeping’ when he says: “Our friend Lazarus is asleep”. The apostle Paul, likewise, does not want us to be grieved “about those who have fallen asleep”. By this, if our faith holds that “everyone who believes” in Christ, according to his word in the Gospel, “will never die”, we know that he himself is not dead and we too will not die. Because “the Lord himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven and the dead will rise”. May hope in the resurrection encourage us, then, since we shall see then all those we have lost. It matters that we should firmly believe in him, that is to say that we obey his precepts, since he applies his mighty power to raising the dead with more ease than we rouse those who are asleep.

This is what we say; and yet, I don't know through what feeling, we take refuge in tears and a feeling of regret compromises our faith. Alas! How pitiable man's condition is, and without Christ how empty our life is! But you, O Death, who are cruel enough to break the union between spouses and separate those whom friendship unites, from henceforth your power has been shattered. From now on your pitiless yoke has been crushed by him who threatened you through the words of the prophet Hosea: “O death, I will be your death”. That is why we hurl our challenge together with the apostle Paul: “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”. He who vanquished you has redeemed us; he has delivered his beloved soul into the hands of sinners that he might make them his beloved friends.

It would take too long to call to mind everything in Holy Scripture that should bring us all consolation. It is enough to hope in the resurrection and raise our eyes to the glory of our Redeemer since it is in him that we are already raised, as our faith gives us to believe, according to the apostle Paul's words: “If we have died with Christ we believe that we shall also live with him”.

Saint Braulion of Saragossa

PRAYER – Remember Lord, Your solemn Covenant, renewed and consecrated by the Blood of the Lamb, so that Your people may obtain forgiveness for their sins and continued growth by grace. May the Blessed Virgin, the Sorrowful Mother of Christ, our Treasure, intercede for our salvation. We make our prayer through Jesus Christ Your Son, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God with You Father, now and forever, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 10 September – “Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God”

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One Minute Reflection – 10 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary” – Readings: Ps 91:13-14, Ps 91:2, 1 Cor. 4:9-14, Luke 12:32-34

For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.

Luke 12:32-34

REFLECTION – “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. The beginning of the New Testament is altogether joyful and full of fresh grace. It even nudges the unbeliever and sluggish to pay heed and, more to the point, to act by promising happiness to the unfortunate and the Kingdom of heaven to those in exile, those in any kind of distress. The beginning of the new Law is pleasant to hear and starts off under happy auspices since the Legislator follows on from this beginning by giving so many assurances of beatitude. In this way those who have been attracted by them will go from one virtue to the next, climbing the eight steps that this Gospel has set up and placed within our hearts. For it is clear that what it is all about is the ascent of the heart and of the progress of merit through eight steps of virtue, leading men gradually from the lowest to the highest levels of evangelical perfection. In this way they will at last enter and see the God of gods in Zion, in his Temple, of which the prophet has said: “It had a stairway of eight steps,”.

The first virtue of the beginner is to renounce the world, through which we become poor in spirit; the second is gentleness, by which we submit ourselves and become accustomed to obedience; then the grief with which we lament our sins or with weeping beg for the virtues. These we certainly enjoy wherever we have the greatest hunger and thirst for justice, as much for ourselves as for others, and begin to be stirred by zeal against sinners. Yet, lest immoderate fervour turn into fault, the mercy by which it is tempered follows after. Through putting this into practice and training ourselves, when we have learnt how to be just and how to be merciful, then we may, perhaps, be capable of entering into contemplation and giving ourselves to the purification of our hearts so as to see God.

Blessed Guerric of Igny

PRAYER – Lord God, in Your wisdom, You created us, in love. By Your providence, You rule us, in love. Penetrate our inmost being with the holy light of Your Son. Penetrate our hearts with the overwhelming love for Your love, so that we may weep in consolation. May the Light that is Jesus Christ our Lord, enlighten our hearts that we may see clearly the way we should tread. May the prayers of Your holy Angels, Martyrs, Saints and our Sorrowful Martyr Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, be our guiding inspiration. Through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God forever amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 9 September – “Those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch him”

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One Minute Reflection – 9 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary ” – Readings: Ps 85:1-3, Ps 85:4, Gal 5:25-26; 6:1-10, Luke 7:11-16

And He said, Young man, I say to you, arise. And he who was dead, sat up, and began to speak.

Luke 7:11-16

REFLECTION – The Word of God, incorporeal, incorruptible and immaterial, came down to our world. Not that he had been far from it before, since no part of creation was ever without him. Together with his Father he filled all things. But he came to us full of love for us and showed himself to us openly. He took pity on our race and our weakness and was moved by the corruption that had got the better of us.

He could not allow death to rule over us any longer. Had death prevailed, creation would have perished and the Father's work in forming man would have been in vain… Therefore he took to himself a nature which was no different from ours. He built himself a temple, a body that is, in the womb of the Virgin, and so made himself an instrument in which to dwell and make himself known. In this way he took from us a body like our own and, since all are subject to the corruption of death, he surrendered his body to death for us all and led it to the Father lovingly for our sake.

St Athanasius

PRAYER – Almighty Lord and God, protect us by Your power and love throughout this day, even as You have enabled us, in Your love to begin it. Do not let us turn aside to any sin but let our every thought, word and deed be done in love for You and Your creatures, our neighbour. Teach us to love as You have loved us and may our Sorrowful and Holy Mother, show us the way. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who loved us to the end, with the Holy Spiriti, God now and for all eternity, amen.

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One Minute Reflection –8 September – “Looking around at those seated in the circle, Jesus said: ‘Here are my mother and my brothers’ “

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One Minute Reflection –8 September – Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Readings: Sedulius, Ps 44:2, Prov 8:22-35, Matt 1:1-16

The Lord begot me, the firstborn of His ways, the forerunner of His prodigies of long ago; from of old I was poured forth, at the first, before the earth.

Prov 8:22-35

REFLECTION – Rightly indeed does the Virgin Mary, who truly conceived the first born of all, hold first place in the congregation of the just. For Christ is “the firstborn of many brethren”. And so, in the divinely inspired scriptures, what is said in general of the Virgin Mother the Church is said individually of the Virgin Mary; and what is said in the particular case of the Virgin Mother Mary is rightly understood of the Virgin Mother Church universally; and when mention is made of either, it is to be understood almost indifferently and conjointly of both.

Every faithful soul, spouse of the Word of God, mother, daughter and sister of Christ, is understood to be a virgin with her own form of fertility. This is said of the whole Church, more particularly of Mary, and individually of the faithful soul, by the Wisdom itself of God, the Father’s Word. Therefore, the text continues: “I shall abide in the inheritance of the Lord”. The inheritance of the Lord universally is the Church, more particularly Mary, and individually every faithful soul. Christ abode for nine months in the tent of Mary’s womb; he abides until the consummation of the ages in the tent of the Church’s faith; he will abide for ever and ever in the knowledge and love of the faithful soul.

Isaac of Stella (?-c.1171) Cistercian monk

PRAYER – Lord God, the day of our salvation dawned when the Blessed Virgin gave birth to Your Son. As we celebrate her nativity, grant us Your grace and Your peace. Through Christ, our Lord, Your Son in union with the Holy Spirit. Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 7 September – “The hour is coming when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God”

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One Minute Reflection – 7 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary” – Readings: Ps 85:1-3, Ps 85:4, Gal 5:25-26; 6:1-10, Luke 7:11-16

And He said, Young man, I say to you, arise. And he who was dead, sat up, and began to speak. And He gave him to his mother. But fear seized upon all, and they began to glorify God, saying, A great prophet has risen among us, and God has visited His people.

Luke 7:11-16

REFLECTION – “Awake, you sleeper, rise from the dead and Christ will give you light!” We often say of those who are manifestly dead that they are sleeping; and indeed they are all sleeping for the One who is able to awaken them. For you a dead person is truly dead: you may well slap and shake him, he will not wake up. But for Christ, the man he commanded to “Rise up!” was merely sleeping and he rose up immediately. It is easy enough to waken a sleeper from his bed but Christ awakens a dead man from his tomb with even greater ease.

“By now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days” But the Lord, for whom all things are done with ease, is coming. No bonds hold secure before the Savior's voice. The powers over the dwellings of the dead tremble and Lazarus is restored to life. For Christ's life-giving will even this death of four days is merely a sleep.

But reflect over the nature of this resurrection. Lazarus, coming alive out of the tomb, was as yet unable to walk. So the Lord commanded his disciples: “Untie him and let him go”. Christ raised him up; they set him free from his bonds. The true majesty of the God who brings the dead back to life emerges in this narrative. The Word of life exhorts those who are bound by their evil habits. Having been strongly admonished these sinners return to themselves, begin to reconsider their lives and feel the weight of the chains of their evil habits. Ashamed, they make up their minds to change their lives. From then on they are raised from death and brought back to life since they condemn their former way of living. However, even though they are alive once more, they cannot walk as yet; their bonds have to be untied. This is the ministry our Lord entrusted to his disciples when he said: “Whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven”.

St Augustine

PRAYER – Our Father who art in heaven, almighty and eternal God, teach us to pause often during our active lives and recollect ourselves. Let us put away the problems of life and commune with You in prayer and meditation. Mary, Holy and Sorrowful Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, teach us the how to pray and how to imitate your courage and strength in silence. Pray for us that we may be inspired to turn to our God for strength, in this vale of tears. Through Jesus Christ our Lord and Advocate, with the Holy Spirit, one God now and for all eternity, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 6 September – The hope of our resurrection!

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One Minute Reflection – 6 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary” – Readings: Ps 85:1-3, Ps 85:4, Gal 5:25-26; 6:1-10, Luke 7:11-16

And the Lord, seeing her, had compassion on her, and said to her, Do not weep. And He went up and touched the stretcher; and the bearers stood still. And He said, Young man, I say to you, arise. And he who was dead, sat up, and began to speak.

Luke 7:11-16

REFLECTION – He rose again on the third day, what then is to come after in His body, i.e. in the Church, He makes appear; for He shewed in example, what He promised in reward, that as believers knew and owned that He had Himself risen again, so they might hope for the rewards of the resurrection in themselves at the end of the world. Lo, we, through the death of the flesh, remain in the dust until the end of the world, but He on the third day budded into life from the dryness of death, that by the very renewal of His flesh by itself He might shew the power of His Divine Nature…. Already indeed the body of the Lord lives after death, but our bodies are kept back from the glory of the resurrection until the end of the world. Whence he carefully introduced this same delay, by saying, And that I shall rise at the last [novissimo] day from the earth.

Therefore we have a hope of our own resurrection, by considering the glory of our Head. But lest anyone say perhaps merely in the secret thought of his heart, that it was in this way that He rose again from the dead, viz. that being God and Man in one and the same Person, the death, which He underwent in His Human Nature, He overcame by His Divine Nature, while we, who are mere men, are not able to rise from the curse of death; it happened rightly that, in the season of His resurrection, the bodies of many of the Saints arose at the same time, that both in Himself He might shew us an example, and by the resurrection of others who were like to ourselves in respect of a mere human nature, He might give us a sure confirmation.

St Gregory the Great 

PRAYER – God of mercy and love, You offer all peoples the dignity of sharing in your life. Rule over our hearts and bodies this day. Sanctify us and guide our every thought, word and deed, my our hands be held out to our neighbour in imitation of Your love and mercy. By the intercession of Mary the Sorrowful Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ and our Mother, strengthen us to love each other as brothers and sisters. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 5 September – “After a long time the master of those servants came back”

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One Minute Reflection – 5 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary” – Readings: Sir 45:30, Ps. 131:1, Sir 44:16-27; 45:3-20, Matt 25:14-23

Then after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

Matt 25:14-23

REFLECTION – “Brothers, up till now we have done nothing at all: so let us begin today.” It was to himself that Saint Francis addressed this counsel; let us humbly make it our own. How true it is that we have done nothing – or very little – as yet! One year follows another without our asking ourselves what we could have made of them. Hasn’t there been anything to change, to add or take away from our way of behaving? How carelessly we have lived, as though the day were never going to come when the eternal Judge would call us to himself and we would have to give an account of our deeds and of what we have done with our time.

Don’t let us waste our time. We ought not to put off for tomorrow what we could do today. The grave overflows with good intentions and, in any case, who can say whether tomorrow we shall still be alive? Let us listen to the voice of our conscience; it is the voice of the prophet: “Oh that today you would hear his voice: Harden not your heart,”.

All we have is the present moment: so let us keep a watch over it and live it as though it were a treasure entrusted to us. Time doesn’t belong to us; don’t let us waste it.

Padre Pio

PRAYER – Almighty and merciful God, open the ears and eyes of our hearts and fill us with Your grace. May we follow You in holiness all the days of our lives. Grant we pray, that as You brought Your Saints and Martyrs to overcome fearlessly, the persecutions of Your people, that we too may remain invincible under Your protection and by their prayers, be strengthened against the snares of the enemy. St Lawrence Justinian, pray for us in these times of evil! Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 4 September – “You cannot serve God and mammon”

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One Minute Reflection – 4 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary” – Readings: Ps 83:10-11, Ps 83:2-3, Gal 5:16-24, Matt 6:24-33

But seek first the Kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things shall be given you besides.

Matt 6:24-33

REFLECTION – See what benefits Jesus Christ promises and how beneficial his commands are to us since they set us free from such great evils. The misery caused you by riches, he says to us, is not just that of arming thieves against you and filling your mind with impenetrable gloom. The great wound they inflict is to snatch you away from the blessed service of Jesus Christ to make you slaves of a piece of senseless, soulless metal.

“You cannot serve both God and money.” My brethren, let us shudder at the thought that we are forcing Jesus Christ to speak to us about money as though it were an alternative divinity to God ! But surely, you will say, didn't the patriarchs of old find it possible to serve God and money at the same time? Certainly not. But how, then, was it that Abraham and Job set such store by their wealth? I reply that there's no question here of invoking those who possessed riches but those who were possessed by them. Job was a rich man; he made use of money without being its slave; he was its master, not its worshipper. He considered his wealth as though it had been another's and saw himself as its administrator, not its proprietor. That was why he was not the least bothered when he lost it.

St John Chrysostom

PRAYER – Holy God, Almighty Father, You taught us to honour Your holy day and the day of rest. In Your divine Son, Whom You gave to us as our brother and glorified by His Resurrection, You showed us the way to our eternal life. As His glorified body shines anew, we rejoice in our future life with Him and embrace His day as our own, each Sunday renewing His Resurrection and each day of our lives. We run forward to sing Your glory together with our Holy Mother, the Blessed Virgin and most Sorrowful Mary, to eternity, through our Lord Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 3 September – “Tend my sheep”

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One Minute Reflection – 3 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of Mary” – Readings: Ps 88:20-22, Ps 88:2, 1 Thess. 2:2-8, John 21:15-17

At that time, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these do? He said to Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I love You. He said to him, Feed My lambs.

John 21:15-17

REFLECTION – The Lord asks Peter what he already knew, and that not just once but a second and a third time, whether Peter loved him. And each time he has the same answer, that he is loved, while just as often he gives Peter the same charge to feed His sheep. To the threefold denial there is now appended a threefold confession of love. His tongue is not to yield a feebler service to love than it did to fear, and the testimony of his word must be just as open in the presence of life as it was before the threat of death. If it was the sign of fear to deny the Shepherd then let it be the office of love to feed the Lord’s flock.

Those who have this as their purpose in feeding the flock of Christ, that they may have them as their own and not as Christ's, are convicted of loving themselves and not Christ. They are motivated either by the desire of boasting, or of wielding power, or of acquiring gain, and not from the love of obeying, serving, and pleasing God. The thrice repeated saying of Christ condemns those, therefore, of whom the apostle complains that they seek their own interests, not the things that are Jesus Christ's. For what do the words mean: "Do you love me? Feed my sheep"? It is as though he said, “If you love me, do not think of feeding yourself but feed my sheep as mine, and not as your own; seek my glory in them, and not your own; my dominion, and not yours; my gain, and not yours… So let us not love ourselves, but him; and in feeding his sheep, let us be seeking the things which are his, not the things which are our own.

St Augustine 

PRAYER – God our Father, Your rule is a rule of love, Your providence is full of mercy for Your people. Through the intercession of Your |Angels and Saints and the Most Sorrowful Mother of Your Son, that we may be granted the spirit of wisdom and understanding in Your Word. Grant that by the light of the Your Word made flesh, we may know our eternal home and strive to attain eternal joy there with You. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 2 September – “He had the servants called”

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One Minute Reflection – 2 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of Mary” – Readings: Ps 36:30-31, Ps 36:1, Sir 31:8-11, Luke 19:12-26

You knew that I am a stern man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow. Why, then, did you not put my money in a bank, so that I on my return might have gotten it with interest?

Luke 19:12-26

REFLECTION – O beloved Truth, O calmest equity of my God, how shall I dare to appear in your presence, bowed down as I am beneath the load of my iniquity, the crushing weight of all my negligence? I have not been faithful, nor have I traded with the talent you entrusted me, the priceless treasure of Christian faith and the spiritual life. I ought to have committed your money to the bankers of your charity so that I might draw abundant interest of perfection from it and so give you back what belongs to you with interest. And not only have I spent your precious talent, my time, but I have wasted it, squandered it utterly away. Where shall I go? Who shall I turn to? “From your presence, where shall I flee?”.

O Truth, you have justice and equity as your inseparable judges. Woe to me if, when I come before you, I lack an advocate to plead my cause. O Love, come forward on my behalf; answer for me; sue for my pardon. If you plead my cause, I know I still have hope of life.

I know what I will do: “The cup of salvation I will take up”. I will lay it upon the empty scale of Truth's balance. So I shall supply all that is lacking and outweigh all my sins. That cup will raise up again all my ruins; with that cup I shall worthily overbalance all my unworthiness.

O beloved Truth, I could not, dare not stand before you without my Jesus; but with him, my Jesus, I will come with joy and gladness. Then sit on your judgement seat, O Truth...: “I fear no evil”.

St Gertrude of Helfta

PRAYER – Lord, my God, You chose us from the foundations of the world to be Your children. We pray that our courage may not fail us as we strive to live in obedience to Your commandments and by our lives spread Your holy Word. We ask too for courage, as we are attacked from all sides, in our struggle home to You. Grant that through the prayers of our Sorrowful Mother, we may fight unto death for Your love and the glory of Your Kingdom. Through our Lord, Jesus, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 1 September – “No servant can serve two masters”

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One Minute Reflection – 1 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of Mary” – Readings: Ps 83:10-11, Ps 83:2-3, Gal 5:16-24, Matt 6:24-33

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples: No man serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will stand by the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

Matt 6:24-33

REFLECTION – To want to place one’s hope and trust in passing things is to want to set one’s foundations in running water! Everything passes, God abides. To be attached to what is transitory is to cut oneself off from what endures. For who, carried away by the angry whirling of a rapid, can stand firm in that roiling flood? So if you want to avoid being carried away by the current then flee from all that flows away. Otherwise, the object of our love will make us end up doing exactly what we wanted to avoid. Whoever attaches himself to transitory things will surely be dragged along to wherever the things he is clinging to are drifting.

So the first thing we must do is to keep ourselves from loving material goods; the second is not to put our trust in such of those goods as are entrusted for our use and not our enjoyment. The soul who is attached to goods that only pass away very soon loses its own stability. The current of this present life carries off whoever it bears, and it is a foolish delusion, for whoever this current carries, to try to stand upright in it.

St Gregory the Great

PRAYER – God our Father, Your rule is a rule of love, Your providence is full of mercy for Your people. Through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, Mother of the Word made flesh and His sorrowful Mother, grant the spirit of wisdom and understanding in Your Word, Your Son Jesus Christ. Grant that by the healing Word our repentant hearts may know our way to our eternal home and strive to attain eternal joy there with You. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 31 August – “Gird your loins and light your lamps”

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One Minute Reflection – 31 August – “The Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary” – St Raymond Nonnatus 1204-1240) Priest, Confessor, Cardinal, Friar of the Mercedarian Order. – Readings: Ps 36:30-31, Ps 36:1, Sir 31:8-11, Luke 12:35-40

You also must be ready, because at an hour that you do not expect, the Son of Man is coming.

Luke 12:35-40

REFLECTION – It is so that our spirit may be detached from its fantasies that the Word invites us to shake off this heavy sleep from the eyes of our souls, so that we may not slide away from the true reality by clinging to what lacks substance. That is why he sets before us an image of vigilance when he says: “Let your loins be girt and your lamps lit”. The meaning of these symbols is clear enough. Someone who is girded with temperance lives in the light of a pure conscience because filial trust enlightens his life like a lamp. Lit up by the truth, that person’s soul is detached from the sleep of illusion because no empty dreams are leading it astray. As the Word says: if we do this we shall enter into a life like that of the angels.

Indeed, these are they who wait for the Lord at his return from the wedding and who are seated by the heavenly gates with watchful eyes so that the King of Glory might once more pass through when he returns from the marriage feast and enters again into the beatitude above the heavens. “Coming forth like the groom from his bridal chamber”, he united to himself like a virgin the nature we had prostituted to idols, once he had restored its virginal integrity through sacramental regeneration. The nuptials having now been accomplished, since the Church has been espoused by the Word and brought into the chamber of his mysteries, the angels awaited the return of the King of Glory to the blessedness that matches his nature.

St Gregory of Nyssa 

PRAYER – O God, Who made blessed Raymund, Thy Confessor, famous for delivering Thy faithful from the captivity of the infidels, grant us, by his intercession that, having been released from the bonds of our sins, we may with free minds, do what is pleasing to Thee. Through 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 – 30 August – “Is not life more than food”

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One Minute Reflection – 30 August – St Rose of Lima OP (1586-1617) Virgin – Readings: Ps 83:10-11, Ps 83:2-3, Gal 5:16-24, Matt 6:24-33

Therefore I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, what you shall eat; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life a greater thing than the food, and the body than the clothing?

Matt 6:24-33

REFLECTION – If spiritual things hold first place in our lives, material needs will cause us no concern, for God in his goodness will give them to us in abundance. On the other hand, if we devote ourselves entirely to earthly pursuits and neglect our spiritual life, concern for what this life has to offer will lead us to neglect our souls. I urge you, therefore, let us not overturn the established order. We know that our Master is good, so let us commit everything to him and not be taken up with the cares of this life. “Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things even before you ask him”.

Jesus wishes us, then, to be free from every anxiety regarding temporal affairs, and to have all possible leisure for the things of the Spirit. He says: "Your part is to seek spiritual blessings, and I myself will provide amply for your material needs. Look at the birds in the sky. They neither sow nor reap nor gather crops into barns, and yet your Father feeds them." In other words, "If I take such care of irrational birds as to supply them with all they need without plowing or sowing, I will take much greater care of you who are endowed with reason, if only you make up your minds to put spiritual things before temporal ones. If I made these creatures for your sake, as well as the whole of creation, and if I take such care of them, of what great care will I not deem you worthy - you for whom I created all of this?"

St John Chrysostom (Baptismal catechesis, no.8)

PRAYER – Almighty God, Giver of all good things, Who willed that blessed Rose, imbued in early life with the dew of heavenly grace, should bloom among the Indians with the beauty of virginity and patience, grant unto us, Thy servants that, following the fragrance of her sweetness, we may be found worthy to become a sweet savour of Christ. Who livest and reignest with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen 

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One Minute Reflection –29 August – And you, child, will be called prophet of the Most High 

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One Minute Reflection –29 August – The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist –  Reading: Ps 118:46-47, Ps 91:2, Jer 1:17-19, Mark 6:17-29

For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just and holy man.

Mark 6:17-29

REFLECTION – Among all the holy and blessed ones, I do not know which to prefer of all the claims to glory of John the Baptist, whose feast we celebrate today : his miraculous birth or his even more miraculous death. His birth carried a prophecy with it, his death, the truth; his birth announced the Savior’s coming, his death condemned Herod’s incestuous relationship. This holy saint was worthy in God’s eyes of not departing from it in the same way as others do in this world: he left the body he had received from the Lord while he was confessing him. In all things John fulfilled God’s will since his life, like his death, corresponded to God’s designs.

Even while still in his mother's womb he celebrated the Lord's coming with joyful movements since he was unable to do so by word. Elizabeth said to blessed Mary: “When the voice of your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leaped for joy”. John, then, rejoiced before his birth, and even before his eyes could see what the world looks like, his spirit already recognised who is its Lord. I think that this is the meaning of the prophet's words: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; before were born I had consecrated you”. So let us not be astonished if, locked up in the prison where Herod had put him, he went on preaching Christ by means of his disciples' mediation for, enclosed as he was in his mother's womb, he already proclaimed the Lord's coming with his bounds.

St Maximus of Turin

PRAYER – May the great festival of St John the Baptist, Thy Precursor and Martyr, we beseech Thee, O Lord, assure for us the results of Thy saving help. Who lives and reign with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen

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One Minute Reflection – 23 August – “He was the true light who enlightens everyone, coming into the world”

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One Minute Reflection – 28 August – St Augustine (354-430) – Bishop, Confessor, Doctor of Grace and Father – Readings: Sir 15:5, Ps 91:2, 2 Tim 4:1-8, Matt 5:13-19

You are the light of the world. A city seated on a mountain cannot be hid.

Matt 5:13-19

REFLECTION – This “day which the Lord has made” penetrates all things, contains all things and simultaneously embraces heaven, earth and the underworld! The light which is Christ is neither hindered by walls nor broken by the elements nor darkened by shadow. Yes, I say, the light of Christ is a day without night, a day without end, shining everywhere, extending everywhere, remaining everywhere. Christ is day, says the apostle Paul: “The night is advanced, the day is near”. The night is advanced, he says, it precedes the day. Understand by this that, as soon as the light of Christ appears, the darkness of the devil is dispersed and the night of sin does not follow, eternal splendor casts out the shadows of yesterday and halts the insinuating advance of evil.

Scripture attests that the day of Christ illumines heaven, earth and hell. It shines on the earth: "He was the true light" says saint John, "who enlightens everyone, coming into the world". It gives light in the underworld: "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;" says the prophet, "upon those who lived in a land of gloom a light has shone". And in heaven this day remains, as David said: "His dynasty will continue forever, his throne like the sun before me".

Saint Maximus of Turin

PRAYER – Give heed to our humble prayers, Almighty God and through the intercession of blessed Augustine, Thy Confessor and Bishop, kindly grant Thy oft-given mercy to those upon whom Thou bestows great hope in Thy forgiveness. Through 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 – 26 August – The World is Everything, God Nothing!

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One Minute Reflection – 26 August – St Zephyrinus, Martyr and Pope – Readings: Ps 73:20; 73:19; 73:23, Ps 73:1, Gal 3:16-22, Luke 17:11-19

Were not the ten made clean? But where are the nine? Has no one been found to return and give glory to God, except this foreigner?

Luke 17:11-19

REFLECTION – If people would do for God what they do for the world, my dear people, what a great number of Christians would go to Heaven! But if you, dear children, had to pass three or four hours praying in a church, as you pass them at a dance or in a cabaret, how heavily the time would press upon you! If you had to go to a great many different places in order to hear a sermon, as you go for your pastimes or to satisfy your avarice and greed, what pretexts there would be, and how many detours would be taken to avoid going at all. But nothing is too much trouble when done for the world.

What is more, people are not afraid of losing either God or their souls or Heaven. With what good reason did Jesus Christ, my dear people, say that the children of this world are more zealous in serving their master, the world, than the children of light are in serving theirs, who is God. To our shame, we must admit that people fear neither expense, nor even going into debt, when it is a matter of satisfying their pleasures, but if some poor person asks them for help, they have nothing at all. This is true of so many: they have everything for the world and nothing at all for God because to them, the world is everything and God is nothing.

St John Vianney

PRAYER – Look forgivingly on Thy flock, Eternal Shepherd, and keep it in thy constant protection, by the intercession of blessed Zephyrinus Thy Martyr and Sovereign Pontiff, whom Thou didst constitute Shepherd of the whole Church.Through 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 – 25 August – The gift of God, the freedom of man

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One Minute Reflection – 25 August – St Louis IX (1214-1270) Confessor, King of France – Readings: Ps 36:30-31, Ps 36:1, Wis 10:10-14, Luke 19:12-26

I say to you that to everyone who has shall be given; but from him who does not have, even that which he has shall be taken away.

Luke 19:12-26

REFLECTION – What have we to offer God? Faith and love. That is where we find what God asks of us, as it is written: “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, and follow his ways exactly, to love and serve the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul”. These are the offerings and these the gifts we should make to the Lord. And if we are to offer him these gifts with all our heart, then first of all we must get to know him. We must have drunk of the knowledge of his goodness from the deep waters of his well.

People who deny that salvation lay within the power of our freedom should be ashamed on hearing these words! Would God ask something from us if we weren't capable of responding to God's demand and giving him what he owed? For there is God's gift but also our contribution. For example, it was well within that man's power that one gold coin should make ten or five more; but that the man should possess that gold coin with which to produce ten more in the first place belonged to God. Once he had given God the ten gold coins he had made, the man received a new sort of gift: not money this time, but the power and sovereignty over ten cities.

In the same way, God asked Abraham to make an offering of his son, Isaac, on the mountain he would show him. And Abraham, without hesitation, offered his only son: he laid him on the altar and drew out his knife to slay him. But at once a voice restrained him and a ram was given him to be sacrificed in his son's place. So you see: what we offer God depends on us; but this offering is asked of us so that, in making our gift, we might witness to our love for God and faith in him.

Origen (c.185-253)

PRAYER – O God, Who transported Thy blessed Confessor Louis from an earthly throne to the glory of the heavenly Kingdom, by his merits and intercession we beseech Thee, to make us of the company of the King of kings, Jesus Christ Thy Son. 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 – 24 August – Apostles, foundations of the holy city

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One Minute Reflection – 24 August – St Bartholomew the Apostle and Martyr – Readings: Ps 138:17, Ps 138:1-2, 1 Cor. 12:27-31, Luke 6:12-19

At that time, Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when day broke, He summoned His disciples; and from these He chose twelve – whom He also named Apostles- Simon, whom He named Peter, and his brother Andrew; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alpheus, and Simon called the Zealot; Jude the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, who turned traitor.

Luke 6:12-19

REFLECTION – “Her foundations are upon the holy hills; the Lord loves the gates of Zion.” “You are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone”. Christ, the cornerstone, and the apostles and mighty prophets, the hills that bear the fabric of the city, constitute a sort of living structure. This living building now makes its voice resound in your hearts. God himself, a master builder, is working in you through my tongue so that you may be built up into its structure, like so many squared stones.

Note the shape of a stone that has been perfectly squared off: Christians should have similar qualities. In all their trials they never fall; though pushed and, after a fashion, knocked over, they do not fall; for whatever way a square stone is turned, it still stands erect. Be similar to those squared stones, and be thus prepared for every shock; whatever the force which may push you, it cannot make you lose balance.

You will rise to take your place in this building by a sincere Christian life, by faith, hope and love. The holy city is constructed of its own citizens; they are themselves the blocks that form this city, for these stones are living: "You also," says Scripture, "like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house," Why are the apostles and prophets the foundations? Because their authority is the support of our weakness. Through them we enter the kingdom of God: they proclaim it to us; and while we enter by their means, we enter also through Christ, who is himself its gate.

Saint Augustine

PRAYER – Almighty, eternal God, Who bestowed on us the devout and holy joy of this day to celebrate the Feast of Thy blessed Apostle Bartholomew, grant unto Thy Church, we beseech Thee, both to love what he believed and to preach what he taught. Through 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 – 23 August – Be grateful!

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One Minute Reflection – 23 August – St Philip Benizi OSM (1233-1285) Confessor – Readings: Ps 73:20; 73:19; 73:23, Ps 73:1, Gal 3:16-22, Luke 17:11-19

But Jesus answered and said, Were not the ten made clean? But where are the nine? Has no one been found to return and give glory to God, except this foreigner?

Luke 17:11-19

REFLECTION – Very dear brothers and lords in Christ, I Catherine, the slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, I write to you in his precious blood, with the desire to see you grateful for all the benefits that you have received from God, so that they can increase and nourish in you the source of divine love in your souls. Gratitude is very pleasant to God, and is very useful to us; But ingratitude displeases God a lot and does us great harm: Ingratitude dries up the springs of piety, and we invite God to no longer increase His graces and to deprive us of those he gave us. It is therefore necessary to apply oneself with great zeal to see the benefits of God, because by seeing them we will be grateful and by gratitude we will return glory and praise to his name.

And how will we show our gratitude and ingratitude? I'm going to tell you: we will show our ingratitude by offending the goodness of God and our neighbour, offering them in a thousand ways and by a thousand injustices, by not giving them what we are forced to return to them, that is, by not loving God over all things, and the neighbour as ourselves. Quite the opposite happens for the faithful man, grateful to his Creator; he does him justice by giving him what is due, that is the praise and the honour that God asks; He does it by loving Him above all things, and loving his neighbour as himself. He contemplates the humility of God to lower his pride; he widens his heart in charity, and he purifies himself of all defilement in the purity of Christ, in the abundance of his precious blood.

So I want my very dear brothers, that you are grateful for the graces that you have received from our creator, so that they may increase.

Saint Catherine of Siena

PRAYER – O God, Who through St. Philip, Thy Confessor, gave us an outstanding example of humility, grant that Thy household may follow his example by scorning worldly prosperity and, ever seek the things of Heaven Through 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 – 22 August – Close to the cross of Christ stood His mother

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One Minute Reflection – 22 August – Month and Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Octave Day of the Assumption) – Readings: Heb 4:16, Ps 44:2, Sir 24:23-31, John 19:25-27

At that time, there were standing by the Cross of Jesus, His Mother, and His Mother’s sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen. When Jesus, therefore, saw His Mother and the disciple standing by, whom He loved, He said to His Mother, Woman, behold your son. Then He said to the disciple, Behold, your mother. And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

John 19:25-27

REFLECTION – There are two martyrdom species: one manifest, the other secret; One visible, the other hidden; One in the flesh, the other in the heart. The martyrdom of the heart goes beyond the torments of the flesh.

So the glorious virgin triumphed in this kind of suffering, all the more glorious as it was closer when, attached to the adorable cross of the Lord's passion, she drew from the chalice, she drinks of His passion, watered in the torrent of pain, she could endure a pain forever unparalleled. She runs following Jesus not only with the smell of her perfumes, but in the abundance of her pain; Not only in the joy of consolations, but also in the overflow of suffering. Mother, she saw her son, the real Solomon, with the tiara of which she had crowned him and, herself crowned with a crown of affliction, she was following Him.


She was standing with the cross to consider the very soft head of her son, anoint of oil with her companions, struck with a reed and crowned with thorns. She saw the most beautiful of the children of men who no longer had neither radiance or beauty. She saw despised and restored to the last rank He who is exalted above all peoples. She saw the saint of saints crucified with the scoundrels and the impious. She saw the eyes of this sublime man lowering himself, and the head of the one who supports the universe to lean, tilted on his shoulders, the very serene face of God wither, and vanish the beauty of his face.

St Amadeus of Lausanne

PRAYER – Almighty, everlasting God, Who in the Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, prepared a dwelling place worthy of the Holy Spirit, graciously grant, that we, who are devoutly keeping the Feast of her Immaculate Heart, may be able to live according to Thy Heart.Through 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 – 21 August – “They hauled it ashore and sat down to put what was worthwhile into containers”

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One Minute Reflection – 21 August – The 11th Sunday after Pentecost and the Memorial of St Jane Frances de Chantal VHM (1572-1641) – Readings: Ps 118:75; 118:120, Ps 118:1, Prov 31:10-31, Matt 13:44-52

I know, O Lord, that Your ordinances are just, and in Your faithfulness You have afflicted me. Pierce my flesh with Your fear; I fear Your ordinances.

Ps 118:75; 118:120

REFLECTION – “He shall rule the world with justice and the peoples with his truth.” Which justice and which truth? He will gather to him his chosen ones; the others he will separate, for he will place the former at his right and the latter at his left. What will be more just, more true than that? Those who did not want to practice mercy before the judge came, will not expect mercy from the judge. Those who wanted to practice mercy, will be judged with mercy. For he will say to those whom he has placed at his right: “Come. You have my Father’s blessing! Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.” And he will attribute acts of mercy to them: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink” and all that follows.

Because you are unjust, will the Judge not be just? Because you sometimes lie, will Truth not be truthful? If you want to meet a merciful judge, be merciful before he comes. Forgive if someone has offended you; give away the possessions of which you have an abundance. Give what you have received from him: “Name something you have that you have not received.” These are the sacrifices that are very pleasing to God: mercy, humility, gratitude, peace, charity. If that is what we bring in sacrifice, we will await with assurance the coming of the Judge, of him who “shall rule the world with justice and the peoples with his truth.”

Saint Augustine

PRAYER – Almighty and merciful God, Who endowed St Jane Frances, burning with love of Thee, with a wondrous strength of spirit through all the paths of life, in the way of perfection and willed through her, to ennoble Thy Church, by a new religious family, grant by her merits and prayers, that we who are aware of our weakness, may trust firmly in Thy power and, by the assistance of divine grace, overcome all obstacles in our way. Through 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 – 20 August – “In order that the Scripture might be fulfilled”

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One Minute Reflection – 20August – “The Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary” and the Memorial of St Bernard (1090-1153) Confessor – Readings: Sir 15:5, Ps 91:2, Ecclus 39:6-14, Matt 5:13-19

Do not think that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.

Matt 5:13-19

REFLECTION – “I have come not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it”… Indeed, at that time, by his own power and in his own person, the Lord fulfilled all the mysteries the law foretold concerning himself. All prophecies were fulfilled by his passion. When, as holy David predicted, a sponge full of vinegar was offered him on the cross, he accepted it and said: “It is fulfilled”; and bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.

Now as well as carrying out himself all that had been prophesied, he also gave us commandments to carry out. Of old the easier commandments laid down by the law were not observed, but we, by grace and the power of the cross, are expected to observe more difficult ones.

Epiphanius of Benevento (5th-6th centuries)

PRAYER – O God, Who gave to Thy people, blessed Bernard, as a minister of salvation, grant, we beseech Thee, that we, who cherished him on earth as a teacher of life, may be found worthy to have him as an intercessor in Heaven.Through 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 – 19 August– “You are the light of the world” 

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One Minute Reflection – 19 August – “The Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary” and the Memorial of St John Eudes (1601-1680) Confessor, “The Apostle of Two Hearts”– Readings: Ps 36:30-31, Ps 36:1, Sir 31:8-11, Luke 12:35-40

The mouth of the just man tells of wisdom, and his tongue utters what is right. The law of his God is in his heart.

Ps 36:30-31

REFLECTION – How blessed, how happy are those servants, “whom the lord when he comes shall find watching!” Blessed watch, in which they watch for God the Creator of the universe, who fills all things and surpasses all!

Would that me also, wretched though I be, yet his poor servant, he might deign so to arouse from the sleep of idleness, so to kindle with that fire of divine love, that the flame of his love, the longing of his so great charity, would mount above the stars, and the divine fire would ever burn within me!

Would that I were of such deserving, that my lamp might ever burn by night in the temple of my Lord, that to all entering the house of my God it might give light. Lord, grant me, I pray you in the name of Jesus Christ your Son, my God, that love which knows no fall, so that my lamp may feel the kindling touch and know no quenching, may burn for me and for others may give light.

Saint Columbanus

PRAYER – O God, Who wondrously enkindled St John, Thy Confessor, to promote the religious veneration of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and through him, willed to found new religious families in the Church, grant, we beseech Thee that we may honour his holy merits and may learn from the example of his virtues. Through 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 – 18 August – The love of God produces love of our neighbour

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One Minute Reflection – 18 August – “The Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary” – Within the Octave of the Assumption – Readings: Ps 69:2-3, Ps 69:4, 2 Cor. 3:4-9, Luke 10:23-37

‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, I, on my way back, will repay you.’

Luke 10:23-37

REFLECTION – As God created man to his own image and likeness, so did he appoint for man a love after the image and resemblance of the love which is due to His own divinity. He said: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart; this is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” Why do we love God? “The cause for which we love God,” says S. Bernard, “is God Himself;” as though he had said: we love God because He is the most sovereign and infinite goodness. And why do we love ourselves in charity? Surely because we are the image and likeness of God; and whereas all men are endowed with the same dignity, we love them also as ourselves, that is, as being holy and living images of the divinity.

For it is on that account that He makes no difficulty about calling Himself our father and us His children; it is on that account that we are capable of being united to His divine essence by the fruition of His sovereign goodness and felicity; it is on that account that we receive His grace, that our spirits are associated to His most Holy Spirit and made, after a fashion, a participant of His divine nature. And therefore the same charity which produces the acts of the love of God produces at the same time those of the love of our neighbour. And even as Jacob saw that one same ladder which touched heaven and earth serving the angels both for descending and ascending, so we know that one same charity extends itself to both the love of God and our neighbour.

Saint Francis de Sales

PRAYER – O Lord, we beseech Thee, forgive the transgressions of Thy servant, and, forasmuch as by our own deeds we cannot please Thee, may we find safety through the prayers of, the Mother of Thy Son and our Lord. 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 August – “Be vigilant at all times and pray”

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You also must be ready, because at an hour that you do not expect, the Son of Man is coming.

Luke 12:35-40

REFLECTION – My beloved, that a person should do the will of God is what constitutes prayer. That is how prayer seems to me to excel. Above all, be eager for prayer and do not weary in it, as it is written that our Lord said: “Pray and do not weary.” You should be eager in wakefulness and remove far from yourself drowsiness and sleep; you should be watchful both by day and by night and not be disheartened.

Now I shall show you the different occasions for prayer. There is petition, thanksgiving, and praise. In petition one asks for mercy for one's sins, in thanksgiving you give thanks to your Father who is in heaven, while in praise you praise Him for his works. At a time when you are in trouble, offer up petition, and when you are well supplied with good things, you should give thanks to the Giver, and when your mind rejoices, offer up praise.

Make all these prayers of yours with discernment to God. See how David was always saying: “I have risen to give thanks to you for your judgments, O Just One.”. And in another psalm he said: “Praise the Lord in heaven, praise him in the heights”. Again he says: “I will bless the Lord at all times, and at all times his praises are in my mouth”. Do not pray using only one kind of prayer, but all separately according to circumstance.

I am convinced, my beloved, that everything people ask for with diligence, God will grant them. But he takes no pleasure in the person who offers up prayer in mockery. As it is written: “This is required of the person who prays, offering up prayer: that he turn over and inspect his offering well, lest some blemish be found on it; only then should he offer it” , so that your offering does not remain on earth. What is this offering if not prayer? Of all offerings pure prayer is the best.

Aphrahat (?-c.345) monk and Bishop near Mosul

PRAYER – Father of might and power, every good and perfect gift comes to us from You. Implant in our hearts the love of Your Name and Your creatures. Increase our zeal for Your service by following behind Your Son with determination and joy. Nourish in us what good and tend it with watchful care. Grant that the prayers and caring love of the Blessed Virgin, our Mother, may help us to follow Jesus our Saviour unreservedly and thus attain eternal life. We make our prayer through Christ, our Lord in the union of the Holy Spirit, one God for all eternity, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 16 August – “Many prophets and kings longed to see what you see”

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At that time, Jesus said to His disciples: Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I say to you, many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and they have not seen it; and to hear what you hear, and they have not heard it.

Luke 10:23-37

REFLECTION – Come then, Lord, “save me and I shall be saved” (Jer 17:14). Come and “smile upon us and we shall find deliverance”. We have waited for you, “be our stronghold, our deliverer in time of trouble” (Is 33:2). In this fashion did the prophets and holy men, with great desire and longing, run to greet the Christ who was to come, hoping if possible to see with their eyes what they foresaw in their hearts. Hence the words of the Lord to his disciples: “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see; I tell you there have been many prophets and holy men who longed to see what you see and never saw it, to hear what you hear and never heard it.” Abraham, our father, “was full of joy to see the day” of Christ. “He saw it” — but in the lower regions — “and rejoiced”.

In that day the coldness and hardness of our hearts will be greatly punished—I mean, if we do not look forward with joy of spirit to the anniversary of Christ’s birth which, we are promised, we shall, God willing, see very soon. In fact Holy Scripture seems to insist we have such joy so that our spirit, lifted out of itself, may run to meet the arrival of Christ in transports of joy, and, straining forward impatient of delay, may strive to pierce the future even now.

Blessed Guerric of Igny

PRAYER – Lord God, You filled the Saints with strength and courage and gave them the knowledge of unity with You. Grant, we pray, that in imitation of them, we may defend the Catholic faith and renew all things in Christ, Your Son. Help us Holy Father, to follow the example of the Immaculate Heart of the Mother of Your Son and all Your Saints and finally inherit eternal life, with You. We make our prayer through Christ, our Lord with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 15 August – “From henceforth all ages will call me blessed”

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One Minute Reflection – 15 August – Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven, Readings: Apoc 12:1, Ps 97:1, Judith 13:22-25; 13:15; 13:10, Luke 1:41-50

“For behold, henceforth, all generations shall call me blessed.”

Luke 1:48

REFLECTION – If Saint Mary Magdalene – who had been a sinner and from whom the Lord had cast out seven demons – merited to be glorified by him to the extent that her praise abides forever among the assembly of the saints, who can measure the extent to which “the upright rejoice and dance for joy in the presence of the Lord” with regard to holy Mary, who knew not man? If the apostle Peter – who was not only unable to watch for one hour with Christ but who even went so far as to deny him – afterwards won such favor that the keys of the Kingdom of heaven were entrusted to him, of what praises is holy Mary not worthy, who bore the king of angels himself in her womb, he whom the heavens cannot contain? If Saul, who “breathed murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord” was the object of such mercy that he was “caught up to the third heaven, whether in the body or out of the body”, it is not surprising that the holy Mother of God – who stayed beside her son through all the trials he endured from his cradle onwards – should have been lifted up to heaven, even in her body, and exalted high above the choirs of angels.

If there is “joy in heaven before the angels over one sinner who repents”, who can tell what joyful and lovely praises rise up before God concerning holy Mary who never sinned? Indeed, if those who “once were darkness” and have now become “light in the Lord” “will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father”, who is able to tell “the eternal weight of glory” of holy Mary, who came into the world “like dawn arising, beautiful as the moon, resplendent as the sun” and of whom was born “the true light which enlightens everyone coming into the world”? Moreover, since our Lord said: “Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am there will my servant also be”, where do we think his mother must be who served him with such eagerness and fidelity? If she followed him and obeyed him even to death, no one can wonder that now, more than anyone else, she “follows the Lamb wherever he goes.”

PRAYER – God our Father, You crowned the Blessed Virgin Mary on the day of her Assumption with a glory beyond compare. You had looked on her lowliness and had made her the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, Your only-begotten Son. Grant that by her prayers, we may be saved by the mystery of Your redemption and share with her in the glory of eternal life. We make our prayer through Christ Your Son, our Lord, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God now and for all eternity, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 14 August – Receiving the Word into good soil

Posted on by AnaStpaul

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 Christ help you, dearest brethren, always to welcome with an eager and thirsting heart the reading of God’s word; then your faithful obedience will fill you with spiritual joy. But if you wish Holy Scripture to bring you sweetness and the divine precepts to profit you as much as they should, then relax from your material preoccupations for a few hours. Read God’s words over again in your house, dedicate yourselves entirely to his mercy. Thus you will succeed in realizing within yourself what is written of the man who is blessed: “meditating on the Law of the Lord day and night” and “Happy are they who observe his decrees, who seek him with all their heart”.

Merchants don’t seek to make a profit on one single product but on several. Cultivators seek a better return by sowing different kinds of seed. You who look for spiritual gains don’t be satisfied just with listening to the sacred texts in church. Read them at home. When days are short, profit by the long evenings. Thus you will be able to gather spiritual grain into your heart’s storehouse and lay out in the treasure house of your souls the precious pearls of Scripture.

Saint Caesarius of Arles

PRAYER – God almighty Father, grant that we may be instruments of welcome and of that love with which Jesus, Your Son, embraces the littlest ones. May we be a society of love and of holy parenting of all children, especially those most in need. Holy Mother, teach us and guide us in prayer and love of God and neighbour. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 13 August – “The poor have the good news proclaimed to them”

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 13 August – “Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary” – Readings: Ps 67:6 67:7 67:36, Ps 67:2, 1 Cor. 15:1-10, Mark 7:31-37

And last of all, as by one born out of due time, He was seen also by me. For I am the least of the Apostles, and am not worthy to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace in me has not been fruitless.

1 Cor. 15:1-10

REFLECTION – The sun’s light as seen by our bodily eyes proclaims the spiritual sun, the “Sun of Justice”. This was truly the gentlest of suns to have arisen on those who, at that time, had the happiness of being his disciples and of seeing him with their own eyes while he was sharing man’s life as though he were an ordinary man. And yet, by nature, he was also truly God, which was why he was capable of restoring sight to the blind, of making the lame to walk and the deaf to hear; he cleansed lepers and, with a word, brought back the dead to life.

And now, too, there is truly nothing sweeter that to fix our spiritual eyes on him so as to contemplate and picture to ourselves his inexpressible, divine beauty. There is nothing sweeter than to be enlightened and made beautiful by this participation and communion in the light, to have one’s heart softened, one’s soul sanctified, and to be filled with a holy joy all the days of this present life. Truly, this Sun of justice is, for those who gaze at it, the transmitter of joy according to the prophecy of David: “The just rejoice and exult before God; they are glad and rejoice!” And again: “Exult you just in the Lord; praise from the upright is fitting!

Saint Gregory of Agrigente (Commentary on Ecclesiastes )

PRAYER – Almighty Father, let Your light so penetrate our hearts and minds, that walking by Your commandments, we may always follow You, our teacher and our guide. Grant that the prayers of St Radegunde may continue to strengthen us. Through Jesus our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.