Quote/s of the Day – 7 August – The Memorial of St Cajetan (1480-1547)
“If you want Christ to love you and help you, you must love Him and always make every endeavour to please Him. Do not waver in your purpose because even if all the saints and every single creature were to abandon you, He will always be near you, no matter what your needs may be.”
“Do not receive Christ in the Blessed Sacrament so that you may use Him as you judge best but give yourself to Him and let Him receive you in this Sacrament, so that He Himself, God your Saviour, may do to you and through you, whatever He wills.”
One Minute Reflection – 7 August – Tuesday of the Eighteenth week in Ordinary Time, Year B – Today’s Gospel: Matthew 14:22–36
Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “O man of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”…Matthew 14:31-33
REFLECTION – “Today’s Gospel reminds us that faith in the Lord and in His Word does not open a way for us where everything is easy and calm, it does not rescue us from life’s storms. Faith gives us the assurance of a Presence, the presence of Jesus who encourages us to overcome the existential tempests, the certainty of a hand that grabs hold of us so as to help us face the difficulties, pointing the way for us even when it is dark.
Faith, in short, is not an escape route from life’s problems but it sustains the journey and gives it meaning. This episode offers a wonderful image of the reality of the Church throughout the ages – a boat that, as she makes the crossing, must also weather contrary winds and storms which threaten to capsize her. What saves her are not the courage and qualities of her men, the guarantee against shipwreck is faith in Christ and in his Word. This is the guarantee, faith in Jesus and in His Word. We are safe on this boat, despite our wretchedness and weaknesses, especially when we are kneeling and worshipping the Lord, like the disciples who, in the end, fell down before Him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God!”...Pope Francis – Angelus, 13 August 2017
PRAYER – Almighty God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, You enabled St Pope Sixtus II and his companions to lay down their lives for Your Word and to bear witness to Jesus, never fearing as they were tossed around in the tempest but always trusting in Your saving grace. Give us a ready and true faith, the courage to profess it and to hold tightly to the hand of Your Son in all of life’s storms. May the prayers of St Pope Sixtus, his companions and St Cajetan, fill us with strength. We make our prayer through Christ, our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 6 August – The Memorial of St Cajetan (1480-1547)
Look down, O Lord Prayer of St Cajetan (1480-1547)
Look down, O Lord, from Your sanctuary
and from the high habitation of heaven
and behold this sacred oblation
which our great High Priest,
Your holy Servant, the Lord Jesus,
immolates unto You for the sins of His brethren
and be propitious to the multitude of our iniquities.
Behold, the voice of the blood of Jesus,
our brother, cries to You from the cross.
Graciously hear, O Lord,
be appeased, O Lord, hearken and do?
Delay not for Your own sake, my God,
because Your name is invoked upon this city
and upon Your people
and do with us according to Your mercy.
Amen
Thought for the Day – 6 August – Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord – Today’s Gospel: Mark 9:2–10
This invitation from the Father is very important. We, the disciples o f Jesus, are called to be people who listen to His voice and take His words seriously. To listen to Jesus, we must be close to Him, to follow Him, like the crowd in the Gospel who chase Him through the streets of Palestine.
Jesus did not have a teaching post or a fixed pulpit, He was an itinerant teacher, who proposed His teachings, teachings given to Him by the Father, along the streets, covering distances that were not always predictable or easy. Follow Jesus in order to listen to Him. But also let us listen to Jesus in His written Word, in the Gospel. I pose a question to you: do you read a passage of the Gospel everyday? Yes, no… yes, no… half of the time … some yes, some no. It is important! Do you read the Gospel? It is so good; it is a good thing to have a small book of the Gospel, a little one and to carry in our pocket or in our purse and read a little passage in whatever moment presents itself during the day. In any given moment of the day I take the Gospel from my pocket and I read something, a short passage. Jesus is there and He speaks to us in the Gospel! Ponder this. It’s not difficult, nor is it necessary to have all four books: one of the Gospels, a small one, with us. Let the Gospel be with us always, because it is the Word of Jesus in order for us to be able to listen to Him.
From the event of the Transfiguration I would like to take two significant elements that can be summed up in two words: ascent and descent. We all need to go apart, to ascend the mountain in a space of silence, to find ourselves and better perceive the voice of the Lord. This we do in prayer. But we cannot stay there! Encounter with God in prayer inspires us anew to “descend the mountain” and return to the plain where we meet many brothers weighed down by fatigue, sickness, injustice, ignorance, poverty both material and spiritual. To these brothers in difficulty, we are called to bear the fruit of that experience with God, by sharing the grace we have received.
And this is curious. When we hear the Word of Jesus, when we listen to the Word of Jesus and carry it in our heart, this Word grows. Do you know how it grows? By giving it to the other! The Word of Christ grows in us when we proclaim it, when we give it to others! And this is what Christian life is. It is a mission for the whole Church, for all the baptised, for us all – listen to Jesus and offer Him to others.
Do not forget! this week listen to Jesus! And think about the matter of the Gospel, will you? Will you do this? Then next Sunday you tell me if you have done this, that you have a little book of the Gospel in your pocket or in your purse to read in little stages throughout the day.
And now let us turn to our Mother Mary and entrust ourselves to her guidance in pursuing with faith and generosity this path of …., learning a little more how to “ascend” with prayer and listen to Jesus and to “descend” with brotherly love, proclaiming Jesus.
Quote of the Day – 6 August – Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord – Today’s Gospel: Mark 9:2–10
It is indeed good to be here, as you have said, Peter. It is good to be with Jesus and to remain here for ever. What greater hap piness or higher honour could we have than to be with God, to be made like Him and to live in His light?
Therefore, since each of us possesses God in his heart and is being transformed into His divine image, we also should cry out with joy: It is good for us to be here – here where all things shine with divine radiance, where there is joy and gladness and exultation; where there is nothing in our hearts but peace, serenity and stillness; where God is seen. For here, in our hearts, Christ takes up His abode together with the Father, saying as He enters: Today salvation has come to this house.
With Christ, our hearts receive all the wealth of His eternal blessings and there where they are stored up for us in Him, we see reflected as in a mirror both the first fruits and the whole of the world to come.
One Minute Reflection 6 August – Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord – Today’s Gospel: Mark 9:2–10
And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.”...Mark 9:7
REFLECTION – …”And the path of Jesus is another, Jesus triumphs through humiliation, the humiliation of the cross. But, as this would be a scandal for them, Jesus lets them see what will come next, what is after cross, what awaits us, all of us. This glory and this heaven. And this is very beautiful, very beautiful because Jesus and this feels good, always prepares us for the test. In one way or another but this is the message. It always prepares us. It gives us the strength to go on in moments of trial and to win with its strength. Jesus does not leave us alone in the trials of life, He always prepares us, He helps us as He prepares these (the disciples) with the vision of His glory. And so they remembered this moment, to bear the weight of the humiliation. And this is the first thing that the church teaches, that Jesus always prepares us and rehearses with us. He does not leave us alone, never!
“This is my beloved son. Listen to him.” This is the message which the Father gives to the Apostles, the message of Jesus prepares them to see His glory, the message of the Father is “Listen to him.” There is no moment in life which cannot be fully lived by listening to Jesus. In beautiful moments, stop and listen to Jesus, in bad moments, stop and listen to Jesus. This is the way, He will tell us what we need to do, always.”…Pope Francis 25 February 2018
PRAYER – Father, at the Transfiguration in glory of Your only-begotten Son, You confirmed the mysteries of faith by the witness to Jesus of the prophets Moses and Elijah. You foreshadowed what we shall be when You bring our sonship to its perfection. Grant that by listening to the voice of Jesus, we may become heirs with Him, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, God forever and may Mary, our tender and caring Mother, help us to be bright rays of the saving light of her Son Jesus. Amen
6 August, Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord
and the 40th Anniversary of the Death of Blessed Pope Paul VI (1897-1978) – Feast Day 26 September
Sunday 6 August 2000 – St Pope John Paul on the 22nd Anniversary of the death of Blessed Paul VI
“We are preparing to celebrate Holy Mass on the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, cherishing in our hearts the ever-living memory of the Servant of God Paul VI, 22 years after his “going forth” to eternity.
Today’s liturgy invites us to turn our gaze to the face of the Son of God who, as the Synoptics unanimously attest, is transfigured on the mountain before Peter, James and John, while the Father’s voice proclaims from the cloud: “This is my beloved Son; listen to him” (Mk 9: 7). St Peter will recall the event with emotion, saying: “We were eyewitnesses of his majesty” (2 Pt 1: 16).
In our era, pervaded by the so-called “image culture”, the desire to be able fill one’s eyes with the figure of the divine Master becomes more intense but it is appropriate to recall his words: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe” (Jn 20: 29). It was precisely with his eyes of faith fixed on the adorable face of Christ, true man and true God, that the revered and unforgettable Paul VI lived. Contemplating him with burning and impassioned love, he said: “Christ is beauty, human and divine beauty, the beauty of reality, of truth, of life” (General Audience, 13 January 1971). And he added: “The figure of Christ presents, over and above the charm of his merciful gentleness, an aspect which is grave and strong, formidable, if you like, when dealing with cowardice, hypocrisy, injustice and cruelty but never lacking a sovereign aura of love” (General Audience, 27 January 1971).
As we approach the altar with grateful hearts, praying for the blessed soul of this great Pontiff, we also wish, like him and like the disciples, to turn our gaze to the radiant face of the Son of God to be illumined by it. Let us ask God, through the intercession of Mary, Teacher of faith and contemplation, to enable us to receive within us, the light that shines brightly on the face of Christ, so that we may reflect its image on everyone we meet.”
“Forty years ago, Blessed Paul VI was living his last hours on earth. In fact, he died on the evening of 6 August 1978,” Francis recounted. “We remember him with so much veneration and gratitude while awaiting his Canonisation next October 14. From Heaven, may he intercede for the Church, which he so loved and for peace in the world. We all greet with applause this great Pope of modernity!”...Pope Francis 5 August 2018 .
Sunday Reflection – 5 August – Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – Today’s Gospel: John 6:24-35
“Bread is not made from one grain but from many. It’s as though you, who were many were ground. When you were baptised it’s as though you were mixed into dough. When you received the fire of the Holy Spirit, it’s as though you were baked. Be what you can see and receive what you are.
After all, just as many grains are mixed into one loaf in order to produce the visible appearance of bread, as though what holy scripture says about the faithful were happening: They had one soul and one heart in God (Acts 4:32); so too with the wine. Brothers and sisters, just remind yourselves what wine is made from; many grapes hang in the bunch but the juice of the grapes is poured together in one vessel.”
St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor of the Church
Thought for the Day – 5 August – Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major/Our Lady of the Snow
St Mary Major is one of the four Roman basilicas known as patriarchal cathedrals in memory of the first centres of the Church. St John Lateran represents Rome, the See of Peter; St Paul Outside the Walls, the See of Alexandria, the see presided over by Mark; St Peter’s, the See of Constantinople and St Mary’s, the See of Antioch, where Mary is believed to have spent most of her later life.
Theological debate over Christ’s nature as God and man reached fever pitch in Constantinople in the early fifth century. The chaplain of Bishop Nestorius began preaching against the title Theotokos, “Mother of God,” insisting that the Virgin was mother only of the human Jesus. Nestorius agreed, decreeing that Mary would henceforth be named “Mother of Christ” in his see. The people of Constantinople virtually revolted against their bishop’s refutation of a cherished belief. When the Council of Ephesus refuted Nestorius, believers took to the streets, enthusiastically chanting, “Theotokos! Theotokos!”
So often I wish we would take to the streets shouting the same, “Mother of God! Mother of God!”
“Jesus honoured her before all ages and will honour her for all ages. No one comes to Him, nor even near Him, no one is saved or sanctified, if he too will not honour her. This is the lot of angels and of men.”
One Minute Reflection – 5 August – Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – Today’s Gospel: John 6:24-35
They said to him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.”…John 6″34-35
REFLECTION – “The soul’s bread is Christ, “the living bread that came down from heaven” (Jn 6:51) who gives food to His own, by faith here and by vision in the world to come. For Christ dwells in you by faith and faith in Christ is Christ in your heart (Eph 3:17). The measure of your faith in Christ is the measure of your possession of Him.
… In this gift I have received, I possess Christ wholly and Christ wholly possesses me, just as the member belonging to the whole body likewise possesses the body in its entirety. And so this portion of faith you have received as your share, is like the morsel of bread in your mouth. But unless you often devoutly meditate over what you believe, unless you chew over it, so to speak, moving it about and turning it over with your teeth, that is to say with your spiritual senses, it will never enter your throat, in other words it won’t get as far as your understanding.
For indeed, how could you understand anything that you reflect over only rarely and carelessly, especially when it concerns something subtle and unseen?… So, by means of meditation, let “the Law of the Lord be ever on your lips” (Ex 13:9) so that a sound understanding may be brought to birth within you. Through a good understanding spiritual food passes into your heart, so that you will not neglect what you have understood but will lovingly reflect over it.”…Guigo II the Carthusian “the Angelic” (?-1188) Prior of the Grande Chartreuse (Meditation 10 (SC 163, p. 181 rev.)
PRAYER – Forgive the sins of Your people Lord and since of ourselves, we are unable to do what pleases You, lead us on the way of salvation in Your divine Son who lives in us and gives us life. May the prayers of Mary, His Mother help us to constantly meditate on His eternal sustenance. He is our food, our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 5 August – Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
Act of Love before Holy Mass
O my God,
I love You with all my heart,
with all my soul, with all my strength
and with no other desire
than to be inseparably united to You.
It is through Your Divine Son
that this union is about to be realised within me.
In the eternal food I will receive,
I long to identify myself with Him,
that it will no longer be myself but He,
who lives in me
and when I have received Jesus within myself,
then I shall love and be loved by You,
in that same measure,
in which I am united to Him.
Hasten then, to give me Your Divine Son,
at the hands of Your priest,
that through Jesus,
I may unite myself forever to You,
O God the Father,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
Thought for the Day – 4 August – The Memorial of St John Vianney (1786-1859)
“My little children, reflect on these words: the Christian’s treasure is not on earth but in heaven.
Our thoughts, then, ought to be directed to where out treasure is. This is the glorious duty of man – to pray and to love. If you pray and love, that is where a man’s happiness lies. Prayer is nothing else but union with God. In this intimate union, God and the soul are fused together like two bits of wax that no one can every pull apart. This union of god with a tiny creature is a lovely thing. It is a happiness beyond understanding.
My little children, your hearts, are small but prayer stretches them and makes them capable of loving God. Through prayer we receive a foretaste of heaven and something of paradise comes down upon us. Prayer never leaves us without sweetness. It is honey that flows into the souls and makes all things sweet.
When we pray properly, sorrows disappear like snow before the sun. Some men immerse themselves as deeply in prayer as fish in water, because they give themselves totally to God. O, how I love these noble souls! How unlike them we are! How often we come to church with no idea of what to do or what to ask for. And yet, whenever we go to any human being, we know well enough why we go. And still worse, there are some who seem to speak to the good God like this: “I will only say a couple of things to You and then I will be rid of You.” I often think that when we come to adore the Lord, we would receive everything we ask for, if we would ask with living faith and with a pure heart.
Prayer is the inner bath of love into which the soul plunges itself.”
– from the catechetical instructions by Saint John Vianney
St John Marie Baptiste Vianney, the poor boy from Dardilly, ordained a priest “through compassion” and in charge of an isolated parish, the one who prepared himself to die every day: because of the strange logic of God who chooses the little to depose the mighty, it was this man who became a teacher and model even for the Popes who sit on the Chair of Peter, who are inspired by him and hold him up for emulation to the entire Church. We must make ourselves ‘little’ in prayer, in total self-giving to God!
One Minute Reflection – 4 August – The Memorial of St John Vianney (1786-1859)
But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you...Matthew 5:44
REFLECTION – “All our religion is but a false religion and all our virtues are mere illusions and we ourselves are only hypocrites in the sight of God, if we have not that universal charity for everyone – for the good and for the bad, for the poor and for the rich and for all those who do us harm, as much as those who do us good.” – St John Vianney
PRAYER – Almighty and merciful God, by Your grace, St John Vianney was remarkable for his zeal as priest and shepherd. Help us, by his example and prayers, to win our brethren for Christ by our love and to share with them in eternal glory. Through our Lord Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 4 August – The Memorial of St John Vianney (1786-1859)
St John Vianney’s prayer which is quoted in the CCC
I Love You, O My God By St John 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
Thought for the Day – 3 August – The Gift of Every Day
THE GIFT OF EVERY DAY
by St John Vianney (1786-1859)
“Before beginning your work, my dear brethren, never fail to make the Sign of the Cross. Do not imitate those people without religion who dare not do this because they are in company. Offer quite simply all your difficulties to God and renew from time to time this offering, for by that means you will have the happiness of drawing down the blessing of Heaven on yourself and on all you do. Just think, my dear brethren, how many acts of virtue you can practice by behaving in this way, without making any change in what you are actually doing.
If you work with the object of pleasing God and obeying His Commandments, which order you to earn your bread by the sweat of your brow, that is an act of obedience. If you want to expiate your sins, you are making an act of penance. If you want to obtain some grace for yourself or for others, it is an act of hope and of charity. Oh, how we could merit Heaven every day, my dear brethren, by doing just our ordinary duties but by doing them for God and the salvation of our souls!
Who stops you, when you hear the chimes striking, from thinking on the shortness of time and of saying in your minds: “Time passes and death comes closer. I am hastening towards eternity. Am I really ready to appear before the tribunal of God? Am I not in a state of sin?”
“My God, I give you my heart and since You are so good as to give me another day, give me the grace that everything I do will be for Your honour and for the salvation of my soul.”
Quote of the Day – 3 August – Friday of the Seventeenth week in Ordinary Time, Year B – Today’s Gospel: Matthew 13:54–58
“There is line from the illuminator of the St John’s Bible that states: “We have to love our way out of this.” There is nothing wimpy or namby-pamby or blind about this conviction. When we love extravagantly, we are not purposely blinding ourselves to moral realities— just the contrary.
Love is not a sentiment, but “a harsh and dreadful thing,” as Dostoevsky said.
This is just what Jesus shows on His terrible cross. And this is just what we, His followers, must imitate. Taking up the cross means, not just being willing to suffer but being willing to suffer as He did, absorbing violence and hatred through our forgiveness and nonviolence.”
One Minute Reflection – 3 August – Friday of the Seventeenth week in Ordinary Time, Year B – Today’s Gospel: Matthew 13:54–58 and The Memorial of Bl Augustine Gazotich O.P. (1262-1323)
Is not this the carpenter’s son?…And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief....Matthew 13:55,58
REFLECTION – “For if I do not understand the nature placed at my service, I discern Your goodness from the mere fact that it is there to serve me. I perceive that I do not even understand myself but I wonder at You all the more… You have given me intellect, life and human feeling, the source of so many joys, yet I do not begin to understand how I began to be…
So it is through failing to understand what surrounds me that I grasp what You are and it is through perceiving what You are that I come to adore You. That is why, in what concerns Your mysteries, my incomprehension lessens not a bit my faith in Your omnipotence… Your eternal Son’s birth exceeds even the idea of eternity; it is prior to the times everlasting. Before any other thing that exists, He was Son proceeding from You, O God and Father. He is true God… You have never existed without Him… Before ever time was, You are the eternal Father of Your Sole Begotten One.”…St Hilary (315-368) Bishop of Poitiers, Doctor of the Church
PRAYER – “So long as I enjoy that breath of life granted to me by You, Holy Father, Almighty God, I will proclaim You as God eternal but also as Father eternal. Never will I set myself up as judge of Your almighty power and mysteries; never will I set my limited understanding before the true appreciation of Your infinity; never will I claim You to have existed beforehand without Your Wisdom, Power and Word, God the Only-Begotten, my Lord Jesus Christ. For even though human language is weak and imperfect when it speaks of You, this will not inhibit my mind to the point of reducing my faith to silence for lack of words able to express the mystery of Your being…” (St Hilary) Lord God, You hold out the light of Your Word to those who do not know You. Strengthen in our hearts the faith You have given us, so that no trials may quench the fire Your Spirit kindled within us. Grant that the prayers of Bl Augustine Gazotich, may assist us to grow in love. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 3 August – Friday of the Seventeenth week in Ordinary Time
For Your Mercy’s Sake By St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor of the Church
For Your mercy’s sake, O Lord my God,
tell me what You are to me.
Say to my soul: “I am your salvation.”
So speak that I may hear, O Lord,
my heart is listening,
open it, that it may hear You
and say to my soul: “I am your salvation.”
After hearing this word,
may I come in haste to take hold of You.
Hide not Your face from me.
Let me see Your face even if I die,
lest I die with longing to see it.
The house of my soul
is too small to receive You;
let it be enlarged by You.
It is all in ruins;
do You repair it.
There are thing in it,
I confess and I know,
that must offend Your sight.
But who shall cleanse it?
Or to what others besides You shall I cry out?
From my secret sins cleanse me, O Lord
and from those of others spare Your servant.
Amen
Thought for the Day – 2 August – The Memorial of St Peter Faber (1506-1546)
The Mass for the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, the titular feast day for the Society of Jesus, was offered on 3 January 2014, by Pope Francis in the Gesu Church in Rome. Today the Church reminds us “to let the centre of … [our] heart be occupied by Christ.” Gathering for prayer was an opportunity for the Holy Father to gather with his religious community in Rome to give God thanks for the many blessings received, and to give thanks for the new Jesuit saint Peter Faber (Pierre Favre).
In his homily Francis said: (excerpt)
“The heart of Christ is the heart of a God who, out of love, “emptied” himself. Every one of us Jesuits who follow Jesus should be willing to empty himself. We are called to this abasement: to be of the “emptied.” To be men that do not live centred on themselves because the centre of the Society is Christ and his Church. And God is the Deus semper maior, the God who always surprises us. And if the God of surprises is not at the centre, the Society becomes disoriented. Because of this, to be a Jesuit means to be a person of incomplete thought, of open thought: because one always thinks looking at the horizon which is the ever greater glory of God, who ceaselessly surprises us. And this is the restlessness of our void, this holy and beautiful restlessness!
This is the restlessness that Peter Faber had, man of great desires, another Daniel. Faber was a “modest, sensible man of profound interior life and gifted with the gift of close relations of friendship with persons of all sorts” (Benedict XVI, Address to Jesuits, April 22, 2006). However, he was also a restless, uncertain and never satisfied spirit. Under the guidance of Saint Ignatius he learned to unite his restless but also gentle — I would say exquisite –, sensibility with the capacity to take decisions. He was a man of great desires; he took charge of his desires, he acknowledged them. In fact for Faber, it was precisely when difficult things were proposed that his true spirit was manifested which moved him to action (cf. Memoriale, 301). Authentic faith always implies a profound desire to change the world. Here is the question we should ask ourselves: do we also have great visions and dash? Are we also daring? Does our dream fly high? Does zeal devour us (cf. Psalm 69:10)? Or are we mediocre and content with our laboratory apostolic programs? Let us remember always: the strength of the Church does not lie in herself and in her organisational capacity but is hidden in the profound waters of God. And these waters agitate our desires and desires enlarge the heart. It is what Saint Augustine says: pray to desire and desire to enlarge the heart. In fact it was in his desires that Faber could discern God’s voice. Without desires one goes nowhereand it is because of this that we must offer our desires to the Lord.
Faber had the real and profound desire to “be dilated in God”: he was completely centred on God and because of this, he could go, in the spirit of obedience, often also on foot, everywhere in Europe to speak to all with gentleness and to proclaim the Gospel. As Saint Peter Favre wrote, “We never seek in this life a name that is not connected with that of Jesus” (Memoriale, 205). And we pray to Our Lady to be messengers with her Son.”…Pope Francis, 3 January 2014
Quote/s of the Day – 2 August – The Memorial of Sts Peter Faber (1506-1546)
and Peter Julian Eymard (1811-1868)
“Take care, take care, never to close your heart to anyone!”
“Seek grace for the smallest things, and you will find grace to accomplish, to believe in, and to hope for, the greatest things. Attend to the smallest things, examine them, think about putting them into effect, and the Lord will grant you greater.”
“To find God in the works, compared to finding Him in prayer, is often like the actual execution, compared to the mere desire.”
St Peter Faber (1506-1546)
“Eucharistic adoration is the greatest of actions. To adore is to share the life of Mary on earth when she adored the Word Incarnate in her virginal womb, when she adored Him in the Crib, on Calvary, in the divine Eucharist.”
“When we work hard, we must eat well. What a joy, that you can receive Holy Communion often! It’s our life and support in this life – receive Communion often and Jesus will change you into Himself.”
One Minute Reflection – 2 August – The Memorial of St Peter Faber S.J. (1506-1546)
‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your almsgiving remembered before God.’...Acts 10:31
REFLECTION – “I then noted that by seeking God in good works through the spirit, one will more readily find Him afterwards in prayer than if one had sought Him first in prayer so as to find Him subsequently in good works, as is often done. For he who seeks and finds the spirit of Christ in good works makes much more solid progress than the person whose activity is limited to prayer alone.”…St Peter Faber
PRAYER – Lord God, light of the faithful and shepherd of souls, who gave blessed Peter to Your Church, to feed Your flock by his teaching and form them by his example, grant that by his intercession, we may keep the faith which he taught and follow in the way he walked. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord, in union with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 2 August – The Memorial of St Peter Faber S.J. (1506-1546)
I Beg of You, My Lord By St Peter Faber (1506-1546)
I beg of You, my Lord,
to remove anything which separates
me from You
and You from me.
Remove anything
that makes me unworthy
of Your sight,
Your control,
Your reprehension;
of Your speech and conversation,
of Your benevolence and love.
Cast from me every evil
that stands in the way of my seeing You,
hearing, tasting, savouring and touching You,
fearing and being mindful of You,
knowing, trusting, loving and possessing You;
being conscious of Your presence
and, as far as may be,
enjoying You.
This is what I ask for myself
and earnestly desire from You.
Amen
Thought for the Day – 1 August – The Memorial of (1696-1787) Doctor of the Church ST ALPHONSUS DE LIGUORI – REACHING THE PEOPLE
With thanks to the C.Ss.R. Baltimore Province
St Alphonsus was a brilliant, articulate, pragmatic preacher. He knew how to reach ordinary people who had limited education and very real needs. They followed this gifted preacher from church to church and town to town to hear him preach the message of hope in Christ for all people.
Three great images, basic to the Christian faith, formed the heart of Alphonsus’ preaching and teaching — Jesus an infant in the crib, Jesus crucified on the Cross, and Jesus vibrantly alive and filled with love for all in the Eucharist. To this he added the image of Mary, the Mother of the Redeemer. When other theologians were opposed to devotion to Mary, Alphonsus invoked her: “Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope.”
Alphonsus appreciated how the poor and working class people expressed their realities through song. A gifted musician and composer, he wrote many popular hymns and taught them to the people in parish missions. His compositions continue to be sung around the world and have never lost their charm and popularity. Redemptorists today still follow the cue of their founder. Their message, announcing the abundance of God’s love, is enriched by the spiritual songs they sing in their community and with the people of God.
Alphonsus wrote for the people. Many turned to his spiritual writing, for he wrote in a way that was understandable to anyone with a basic education. On winter evenings in his time, the people in the villages often gathered around a fire in someone’s home. Someone read stories about the Gospels or the lives of the saints, things that nourished their faith and helped them to pray. Alphonsus’ works were frequent choices and they remain so still, his works are a fountain of holiness. Which of us has not, in our home poarishes all over the world, prayed his Stations of the Cross? They will always be one of the treasures of the Church. http://immaculateheartbalornock.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Stations-of-the-Cross-Booklet.pdf
The Holy Father’s Prayer Intention
for AUGUST 2018
Universal: The Treasure of Families
That any far-reaching decisions
of economists and politicians
may protect the family as one
of the treasures of humanity.
“The family is the foundation of co-existence and a remedy against social fragmentation. Children have a right to grow up in a family, with a father and a mother, capable of creating a suitable environment, for the child’s development and emotional maturity.”
Pope Francis, Humanum Conference, November 17, 2014
Pope Francis Prayer for the Family
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, in you we contemplate the splendour of true love, to you we turn with trust. Holy Family of Nazareth, grant that our families too may be places of communion and prayer, authentic schools of the Gospel and small domestic Churches. Holy Family of Nazareth, may families never again experience violence, rejection and division. May all who have been hurt or scandalised find ready comfort and healing. Holy Family of Nazareth, make us once more mindful of the sacredness and inviolability of the family, and its beauty in God’s plan. Jesus, true God and true man, graciously hear our prayer. Mary and Joseph, co-operators with God’s plan, pray for us. Amen!
(composed for the Synod on the Family and therefore, slightly adapted)
The history of the devotion to the Heart of Mary is connected on many points with that to the Heart of Jesus; nevertheless, it has its own history which, although very simple, is not devoid of interest. The attention of Christians was early attracted by the love and virtues of the Heart of Mary. The Gospel itself invited this attention with exquisite discretion and delicacy. What was first excited was compassion for the Virgin Mother. It was, so to speak, at the foot of the Cross that the Christian heart first made the acquaintance of the Heart of Mary. Simeon’s prophecy paved the way and furnished the devotion with one of its favourite formulae and most popular representations: the heart pierced with a sword. But Mary was not merely passive at the foot of the Cross; “she cooperated through charity”, as St Augustine says, “in the work of our redemption”.
Another Scriptural passage to help in bringing out the devotion was the twice-repeated saying of St Luke, that Mary kept all the sayings and doings of Jesus in her heart, that there she might ponder over them and live by them. Some of the Fathers also throw light upon the psychology of the Virgin, for instance, S. Ambrose, when in his commentary on St Luke, he holds Mary up as the ideal of virginity and St Ephrem, when he so poetically sings of the coming of the Magi and the welcome accorded them by the humble Mother.
In the New Testament Elizabeth proclaims Mary blessed because she has believed the words of the angel ,the Magnificat is an expression of her humility and in answering the woman of the people, who in order to exalt the Son proclaimed the Mother blessed, did not Jesus himself say: “Blessed rather are they that hear the word of God and keep it”, thus in a manner inviting us to seek in Mary that which had so endeared her to God and caused her to be selected as the Mother of Jesus? The Fathers understood His meaning and found in these words a new reason for praising Mary. St Leo says that through faith and love, she conceived her Son spiritually, even before receiving Him into her womb and St Augustine tells us, that she was more blessed in having borne Christ in her heart, than in having conceived Him in the flesh.
Daily Prayer for August for the Intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
O Most Blessed Mother,
heart of love, heart of mercy,
ever listening, caring, consoling, hear our prayer.
As your children, we implore your intercession,
with Jesus your Son.
Receive with understanding and compassion,
the petitions we place before you today,
especially those so deep in our heart.
We are comforted in knowing your heart is ever open
to those who ask for your prayer.
We trust to your gentle care and intercession,
those whom we love
and who are sick or lonely or hurting.
Help all of us, Holy Mother,
to bear our burdens in this life,
until we may share eternal life and peace
with God, our Father forever.
Amen
Quote/s of the Day – 1 August – The Memorial of St Alphonsus Liquori (1696-1787) Doctor of the Church
“Your God is ever beside you – indeed, He is even within you.”
“Know also that you will probably gain more by praying fifteen minutes before the Blessed Sacrament than by all the other spiritual exercises of the day. True, Our Lord hears our prayers anywhere, for He has made the promise, ‘Ask, and you shall receive,’ but He has revealed to His servants, that those who visit Him in the Blessed Sacrament will obtain a more abundant measure of grace.”
“St Augustine and St Thomas define mortal sin to be a turning away from God: that is, the turning of one’s back upon God, leaving the Creator for the sake of the creature. What punishment would that subject deserve who, while his king was giving him a command, contemptuously turned his back upon him to go and transgress his orders? This is what the sinner does; and this is punished in hell with the pain of loss, that is, the loss of God, a punishment richly deserved by him who in this life turns his back upon his sovereign good.”
“Let us thank God for having called us to His holy faith. It is a great gift and the number of those, who thank God for it is small.”
“All others had a Redeemer Who delivered them from sin with which they were already defiled but that the most Blessed Virgin had a Redeemer Who, because He was her Son, preserved her from ever being defiled by it. “
“Just as there is not one among all the Blessed who loves God as Mary does, so there is no one, after God, who loves us as much as this most loving Mother does. Furthermore, if we heaped together all the love that mothers have for their children, all the love of husbands and wives, all the love of all the angels and Saints for their clients, it could never equal Mary’s love for even a single soul.”
“Were you to ask, ‘what are the mans of overcoming temptations’, I would answer:
the first means is prayer; the second is prayer; the third is prayer and should you ask me a thousand times, I would repeat the same.”
“Without prayer, we have neither light nor strength, to advance in the way which leads to God.”
“He who prays most receives most.”
St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) Doctor of the Church
One Minute Reflection – 1 August – The Memorial of St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) Doctor of the Church
May the Lord…make you overflow with love for one another and for all.…1 Thessalonians 3:12
REFLECTION – “The means for attaining perfect love is to accomplish frequent acts of love. Fire is kindled by the wood that we cast into it and love is enkindled by acts of love.”….St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) Doctor of the Church
PRAYER – Loving Father, grant me the grace to strive after perfect love. Help me to bring forth frequent acts of love, to all and sundry, to each of my neighbours, so that I may grow in this greatest of virtues… St Alphonsus Liguori pray for us, amen.
You must be logged in to post a comment.