Our Morning Offering – 8 April
PRAYER of ST DOMINIC
May God the Father who made
us bless us.
May God the Son send His
healing among us.
May God the Holy Spirit move
within us
and give us eyes to see with,
ears to hear with,
and hands that Your work might
be done.
May we walk and preach the
word of God to all.
May the angel of peace watch
over us
and lead us at last by God’s
grace to the Kingdom. Amen
Set us free.
On this Friday before Good Friday,
it might be most appropriate to make the Stations.
Our desire is becoming more focused and more intense.
After our weeks of reflection, we know that our selfishness has placed us in ruts,
has made us slaves to some very unhappy and sometimes death-dealing patterns.
The celebration of our freedom and healing is close at hand.
Jesus carried our sins in his own body on the cross
so that we could die to sin and live in holiness;
by his wounds we have been healed.
The Communion Antiphon – 1 Peter 2:24
 The First Station: Jesus Is Condemned To Death My Jesus, the world still has You on trial. It keeps asking who You are and why You make the demands You make. It asks over and over the question, If You are God’s Son, why do You permit the world to be in the state it is in? Why are You so silent? Though the arrogance of the world angers me, I must admit that silently, in the depths of my soul, I too have these questions. Your humility frustrates me and makes me uncomfortable. Your strength before Pilate as You drank deeply from the power of the Father, gives me the answer to my question – The Father’s Will. The Father permits many sufferings in my life but it is all for my good. If only I too could be silent in the face of worldly prudence – steadfast in the faith when all seems lost – calm when accused unjustly – free from tyranny of human respect – ready to do the Father’s Will no matter how difficult. Silent Jesus, give us all the graces we need to stand tall in the face of the ridicule of the world. Give the poor the strength not to succumb to their privation but to be ever aware of their dignity as sons of God. Grant that we might not bend to the crippling disease of worldly glory but be willing to be deprived of all things rather than lose Your friendship. My Jesus, though we are accused daily of being fools, let the vision of Quiet Dignity standing before Monstrous Injustice, give us all the courage to be Your followers. |
 The Second Station: Jesus Carries His Cross How could any human impose such a burden upon Your torn and bleeding body, Lord Jesus? Each movement of the cross drove the thorns deeper into Your Head. How did You keep the hatred from welling up in Your Heart? How did the injustice of it all not ruffle your peace? The Father’s Will was hard on You – Why do I complain when it is hard on me? I see injustice and am frustrated and when my plans to alleviate it seems futile, I despair. When I see those burdened with poverty suffer ever more and cross is added to cross my heart is far from serene. I utterly fail to see the dignity of the cross as it is carried with love. I would so much rather be without it. My worldly concept is that suffering, like food, should be shared equally. How ridiculous I am, dear Lord. Just as we do not all need the same amount of material food, neither do we need the same amount of spiritual food and that is what the cross is in my life, isn’t it – spiritual food proportional to my needs. |
Stations of the Cross by Mother Angelica
Thought for the Day – 7 April
St John Baptiste de la Salle stumbled upon his life’s work, quite by accident and had to draw into and upon, all his inner strength to accomplish the mission given to him. He was faced with something entirely new and had to find new ways to do this work. Discouragement dogged his every step but he carried on knowing that it was not his work but belonged to God. Faith and boldness go together, faith, courage and strength go together, faith and zeal for the work of God go together – we have only to ask the Lord, in our faith for the boldness, the courage and strength and the zeal!
St John Baptste de la Salle, pray for us!
Quote/s of the Day – 7 April
“We should have frequent recourse to prayer
and persevere a long time in it.
God wishes to be solicited.
He is not weary of hearing us.
The treasure of His graces is infinite.
We can do nothing more pleasing to Him
than to beg incessantly that He bestow them upon us.”
“Guard your eyes: –
that they may not look
upon anything contrary to purity;
your ears: –
that they may not listen to evil conversation;
your mind: –
by banishing from it all suggestive thoughts;
your heart: –
by stifling impure desires at their very birth.”
“Pride makes us forgetful of our eternal interests.
It causes us to neglect totally the care of our soul.”
“Be driven by the love of God because Jesus Christ died for all,
that those who live may live not for themselves but for Him,
who died and rose for them.
Above all, let your charity and zeal show how you love the Church.
Your work is for the Church, which is the body of Christ.”
St. Jean-Baptiste de la Salle, pray for us!
One Minute Reflection – 7 April
Jesus offered one sacrifice for sins and took his seat forever at the
right hand of God………Hebrews 10:12
REFLECTION – “When you are at Mass, be there as if you were on Calvary.
For it is the same sacrifice and the same Jesus Christ Who is doing for you
what He did on the Cross for all human beings.”………st John Baptiste de la Salle
PRAYER – Jesus, my Redeemer, at each Mass let me thank You for the supreme sacrifice You offered to free me from sin. Help me to be sorry for my sins and to resolve to follow You more closely, to love You more dearly and to keep Your Cross always before my eyes. St John Baptiste de la Salle, pray for us, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 7 April
La Salle Prayer
My Lord,
let me be the change I want to see
To do with strength and wisdom
All that needs to be done..
And become the hope that I can be.
Set me free from my fears and hesitations
Grant me courage and humility
Fill me with spirit to face the challenge
And start the change I long to see.
Today I start the change I want to see.
Even if I’m not the light
I can be the spark
In faith, service and communion.
Let us start the change we want to see.
The change that begins in me.
Live Jesus in our hearts forever (La Sallian Invocation)
Amen
LENTEN REFLECTION – The Fifth Week – 6 April 2017
Come to us, free us, help us and guide us.
We pray more intensely now, just a week before Holy Thursday.
We desire more and more that we might be free.
Sorrow leads to profound gratitude,
when we experience the depth of unconditional love offered us.
The gratitude of a loved sinner leads to great generosity.
Christ is the mediator of a new covenant so that since he has died,
those who are called may receive the eternal inheritance promised to them.
The Entrance Antiphon – Hebrews 9:15
What an exquisitely beautiful things is this loving, painstaking Providence of God!
A fatherly care that can turn even our sins to good use!
I think what hurts us most in our sins and our mistakes is the awful feelings of guilt they bring – and the terrible sense of waste.
“If only I could do it all over again!” we say with remorse. “If only I could undo the harm I’ve done, soothe the feelings I’ve hurt, straighten out the mess I’ve made!”Lord, what a joy to know that through Your Death and Resurrection, through Your Father’s loving care, the harm is already undone!
That once we are sorry for our sins, there is never any waste.
All, all is turned to good.
Your wisdom can straighten what my sins have entangled, through the love You gave us in sending Your only Son to die.
Your Providence can take the broken pieces of my life and mend them – and make me into a saint!
I look forward now, my Lord, not back.
Take me – I abandon myself to a new life in Him who will die for my sins but will rise again!
From Meditations on St Paul by Fr James E Sullivan M.S.
Thought for the Day – 6 April
A gracious lovable personality does more than anything else to draw others to holiness. Some preach by words and some by their whole person. Blessed Notker Balbulus was one of the latter. The fact that he was dearly loved by those with whom he lived, is the finest witness to his holiness. It is not our human looks or physical attributes which draw others to us but a heart of love.
Blessed Notker Balbulus, please pray for us.
Quote/s of the Day – 6 April
“Does our life become from day to day more painful,
more oppressive, more replete with sufferings?
Blessed be He a thousand times who desires it so.
If life be harder, love makes it also stronger
and only this love, grounded on suffering,
can carry the Cross of my Lord, Jesus Christ.”
Blessed Miguel Pro
“Goodness in the face of evil must suffer,
for when love meets sin,
it will be crucified.”
Venerable Fulton J Sheen
One Minute Reflection – 6 April
Through baptism into (Christ’s) death we were buried him, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead…..we too might live a new life……Romans 6:4
REFLECTION – “Christ is our life. Let us therefore look to Christ. He came to suffer in order to merit glory; to seek contempt in order to be exalted. He came to die but also to rise again.”……………..St Augustine
PRAYER – Heavenly Father, through my baptism I was buried with Christ and rose to a new life of grace. Let me so guard that life that I will enjoy it full in heaven with Christ. Blessed Notker Balbulus, you guarded your life that you lived only for Christ please pray for us all, amen.
I believe, O Lord, but strengthen my faith,
Heart of Jesus, I love Thee
but increase my love.
Heart of Jesus, I trust in Thee,
but give greater vigour to my confidence.
Heart of Jesus, I give my heart to Thee,
but so enclose it in Thee
that it may never be separated from Thee.
Heart of Jesus, I am all Thine,
but take care of my promise
so that I may be able
to put it in practice even unto
the complete sacrifice of my life.
Amen
A PRIEST is a lover of God,
a priest is a lover of men,
a priest is a holy man
because he walks before the face of the All-Holy.
A priest understands all things,
a priest forgives all things,
a priest encompasses all things.
The heart of a priest is pierced, like Christ’s
with the lance of love.
The heart of a priest is open, like Christ’s
for the whole world to walk through.
The heart of a priest is a vessel of compassion,
the heart of a priest is a chalice of love,
the heart of a priest is the trysting place
of human and divine love.
A priest is a man whose goal is to be another Christ;
a priest is a man who lives to serve.
A priest is a man who has crucified himself
so that he too may be lifted up
and draw all things to Christ.
A priest is a man in love with God.
A priest is the gift of God to man
and of man to God.
A priest is the symbol of the word made flesh,
a priest is the naked sword of God’s justice,
a priest is the hand of God’s mercy,
a priest is the reflection of God’s love.
Nothing can be greater in this world than
a priest
Nothing but God Himself.
LET US PRAY:
Lord Jesus Christ, eternal High Priest,
You offered Yourself to the Father
on the altar of the Cross
and through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit
gave Your priestly people
a share in Your redeeming sacrifice.
Hear our prayer for the sanctification
of our priests.
Grant that all who are ordained
to the ministerial priesthood
may be ever more conformed to You,
the divine Master.
May they preach the Gospel
with pure heart and clear conscience.
Let them be shepherds according to Your own Heart,
single-minded in service to You and to the Church
and shining examples of a holy, simple and joyful life.
Through the prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
your Mother and ours,
draw all priests and the flocks entrusted to their care
to the fullness of eternal life where You live and reign
with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen
LENTEN REFLECTION – Wednesday of the Fifth Week – 5 April 2017
And they compelled a passer-by, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. – Mark 15:21
Our blessed Lord falls again and again beneath the weight of the cross, until it becomes evident to the soldiers that He will never be able to drag it to the place of execution. They accordingly lay hold of a heathen passing by, Simon the Cyrenian and him they compel to carry the cross. How little Simon knew the happiness in store for him when those rough soldiers seize him and force him to the ignominious task of carrying for a public criminal the instrument of his punishment! How often we too fail to recognise in the sudden disagreeables and contradictions we encounter God’s wonderful designs of mercy to us!
Simon at first bore the cross surlily and reluctantly, chafing under the hardship inflicted on him. But as he carries it, somehow an unaccountable change comes over him. It has the virtue to change his heart and to make of him a devoted follower of the Crucified, one of the pillars of the Apostolic Church. Thus many a cross that we carry reluctantly turns out to be really the means of our sanctification and salvation.
Before Simon arrives at the summit of Calvary, the cross has endeared itself to him. He has recognised that to carry it for Jesus was no hardship but a privilege and a happiness. So too the saints learn to love the cross, to embrace it, to seek it, to carry it with all joy, to be almost discontented if they are without it. This is the very height of peace and felicity; for those who find their joy in the cross find everywhere around them cause for rejoicing.
– from The Sacred Passion of Jesus Christ: Short Meditations for Lent, by Father Richard Frederick Clark, S.J.
Thought for the Day – 5 April
The polarisation in the Church today (but only in certain countries-never forget that the world is a big place and in most places the Church stands united) is a mild breeze compared with the tornado that ripped the Church apart during the lifetime of this saint. If any saint is a patron of reconciliation, Vincent Ferrer is. The split in the Church at the time of Vincent Ferrer should have been fatal—36 long years of having two “heads.” We cannot imagine what condition the Church today would be in if that happened today. It is an ongoing miracle that the Church has not long since been shipwrecked on the rocks of human pride and ignorance, greed and ambition but we must always take into account the fact that the Church is Divine, it is Holy and is the Mystical Body of Christ and not our man-made institution – for that it is NOT – it is true love! “We believe that “truth is mighty and it shall prevail”—but it sometimes takes a long time. And so, even if we are wrong, as in St Vincent’s case, we can still become saints. How great is our God for the “gates of hell shall not prevail.”! (portion of this comment from Fr. Don Miller, OFM)
St Vincent Ferrer, pray for us!
Quote/s of the Day – 5 April
“Once humility is acquired, charity will come to life –
a burning flame devouring the corruption of vice and filling
the heart so full that there is no place for vanity.”
“Let devotion accompany your studies:
consult God, the giver of all science and ask Him with humility to make
you understand what you read and learn.
Interrupt your application by short prayers: never begin or end your studies but by prayer. Learning is a gift of the Father of Lights; do not, therefore, consider it a fruit of
your own intellect or industry.”
St Vincent Ferrer (Saint of the Day)
One Minute Reflection – 5 April
Love the Lord your God with all your heart………
Love your neighbour as yourself……..Mark 12:30-31
REFLECTION – “If you truly want to help the soul of your neighbour, you should pproach God first with all your heart. Ask Him simply to fill you with charity, the greatest of all virtues; with it you can accomplishwhat you desire.” …………….St Vincent Ferrer
PRAYER – Heavenly Father, grant me the grace to love You above all things and to do all my actions out of love for You. Help me to love others and to work for their salvation. St Vincent Ferrer, pray for us, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 5 April
Prayer for Proper Affections Toward God
By St Vincent Ferrer
Good Jesus, let me be penetrated with love
to the very marrow of my bones,
with fear and respect toward Thee;
let me burn with zeal for Thy honour,
so that I may resent terribly all the outrages
committed against Thee, especially those
of which I myself have been guilty.
Grant further, O my God, that I may adore
and acknowledge Thee humbly as my Creator
and that, penetrated with gratitude
for all Thy benefits,
I may never cease to render Thee thanks.
Grant that I may bless Thee in all things,
praise and glorify Thee with a heart full of joy
and gladness, and that,
obeying Thee with docility
in every respect, I may one day,
despite my ingratitude and unworthiness,
be seated at Thy table together with Thy holy angels
and apostles to enjoy ineffable delights. Amen
LENTEN REFLECTION – Tuesday of the Fifth Week – 4 April 2017
“Look around, and see what the world presents of high and low. Go to the court of princes. See the treasure and skill of all nations brought together to honour a child of man. Observe the prostration of the many before the few. Consider the form and ceremonial, the pomp, the state, the circumstance and the vainglory. Do you wish to know the worth of it all? Look at the cross of Christ.
Go to the political world. See nation jealous of nation, trade rivalling trade, armies and fleets matched against each other. Survey the various ranks of the community, its parties and their contests, the strivings of the ambitious, the intrigues of the crafty. What is the end of all this turmoil – the grave! What is the measure – the cross.
Go, again, to the world of intellect and science. Consider the wonderful discoveries which the human mind is making, the variety of arts to which its discoveries give rise, the all but miracles by which it shows its power. And next, the pride and confidence of reason and the absorbing devotion of thought to transitory objects, which is the consequence. Would you form a right judgment of all this? Look at the cross.
Again, look at misery, look at poverty and destitution, look at oppression and captivity. Go where food is scanty, and lodging unhealthy. Consider pain and suffering, diseases long or violent, all that is frightful and revolting. Would you know how to rate all these? Gaze upon the cross.
Thus in the cross, and Him who hung upon it, all things meet. All things subserve it, all things need it. It is their centre and their interpretation. For He was lifted up upon it, that He might draw all peoples and all things to himself.
………………..And so, too, as regards this world, with all its enjoyments, yet disappointments, let us not trust it. Let us not give our hearts to it. Let us not begin with it. Let us begin with faith. Let us begin with Christ. Let us begin with His cross and the humiliation to which it leads. Let us first be drawn to Him who is lifted up, that so He may, with Himself, freely give us all things. Let us “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,” and then all those things of this world “will be added to us.”
They alone are able truly to enjoy this world, who begin with the world unseen. They alone enjoy it, who have first abstained from it. They alone can truly feast, who have first fasted. They alone are able to use the world, who have learned not to abuse it. They alone inherit it, who take it as a shadow of the world to come and who for that world to come relinquish it.”
Thought for the Day – 4 April
How amazing it is – what one person can accomplish when he works for God alone! We all find ourselves in situations of leadership or influence and the good we can do by our labour and our example knows no bounds. Look around, see the lives you can touch – become a genuine influence and example to others. We have every tool we need AND we have every reason to work for the glory of the Kingdom!
St Isidore of Seville, pray for us!
One Minute Reflection – 4 April
Have just men for your……companions;
in the fear of God be your glory…………Sirach 9:16
REFLECTION – “Seek the association of persons who are good. For if you are the companion of their life, you will also be the companion of their virtue.”…….St Isidore of Seville
PRAYER – God of goodness, help me to be continually in the company of true Christians.
Let me be edified by their virtues and their works and let our association bring us all to heavenly glory. St Isidore of Seville, pray for us, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 4 April
Excerpt from a Prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas
O merciful God,
grant that I may ever perfectly
do Your Will in all things.
Let it be my ambition to work
only for Your honour and glory.
Give me, O God,
an ever watchful heart
which nothing can ever
lure away from You;
a noble heart,
which no unworthy affection
can draw downwards to the earth;
an upright heart,
which no evil can warp;
an unconquerable heart,
which no tribulation can crush;
a free heart,
which no perverted affection
can claim for its own.
Bestow on me, O God,
understanding to know You,
diligence to seek You,
and wisdom to find You;
a life which may please You,
and a hope which may
embrace You at the last.
Amen
LENTEN REFLECTION – The Fifth Week – Monday 3 April 2017
ALMSGIVING
Excerpt from a Homily of St John Chrysostum Doctor and Father of the Church (347-407
Nay, if you desire to honour the sacrifice, offer your soul, for which also it was slain; cause that to become golden; but if that remain worse than lead or potter’s clay, while the vessel is of gold, what is the profit?
Let not this therefore be our aim, to offer golden vessels only but to do so from honest earnings likewise. For these are of the sort that is more precious even than gold, these that are without injuriousness. For the church is not a gold foundry nor a workshop for silver but an assembly of angels. Wherefore it is souls which we require, since in fact God accepts these for the souls’ sake.
That table at that time was not of silver nor that cup of gold, out of which Christ gave His disciples His own blood; but precious was everything there….
Would you do honour to Christ’s body? Neglect Him not when naked; do not while here you honour Him with silken garments, neglect Him perishing without of cold and nakedness. For He that said, This is my body, and by His word confirmed the fact, This same said, You saw me an hungered, and fed me not; and, Inasmuch as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me. Matthew 25:42, 45 For this indeed needs not coverings, but a pure soul; but that requires much attention.
Let us learn therefore to be strict in life and to honour Christ as He Himself desires. For to Him who is honoured that honour is most pleasing, which it is His own will to have, not that which we account best. Since Peter too thought to honour Him by forbidding Him to wash his feet but his doing so was not an honour, but the contrary.
Even so do thou honour Him with this honour, which He ordained, spending your wealth on poor people. Since God has no need at all of golden vessels but of golden souls.
And these things I say, not forbidding such offerings to be provided; but requiring you, together with them and before them, to give alms………..
For what is the profit, when His table indeed is full of golden cups but He perishes with hunger? First fill Him, being an hungered and then abundantly deck out His table also. Do you make Him a cup of gold, while you give Him not a cup of cold water? And what is the profit? Do you furnish His table with cloths bespangled with gold, while to Himself you afford not even the necessary covering? And what good comes of it? For tell me, should you see one at a loss for necessary food and omit appeasing his hunger, while you first overlaid his table with silver; would He indeed thank you and not rather be indignant? What, again, if seeing one wrapped in rags and stiff with cold, you should neglect giving him a garment and build golden columns, saying, thou were doing it to His honour, would He not say that thou were mocking and account it an insult and that the most extreme?
Let this then be your thought with regard to Christ also, when He is going about a wanderer and a stranger, needing a roof to cover Him; and thou, neglecting to receive Him, deckest out a pavement, and walls, and capitals of columns and hangest up silver chains by means of lamps but Himself bound in prison you will not even look upon.
Thought for the Day – 3 April
Gradually Father Luigi took on the fundamental traits of a spiritual life centred on Jesus Christ, loved and imitated in the humility and poverty of His incarnation in Bethlehem, in the simplicity of His working life at Nazareth, in His total immolation on the cross on Calvary and in the silence of the Eucharist. And since Jesus had said: “Whatever you did to one of the least of these my brethren you did it to me”, it is to them that every day Father Luigi devoted his life with the practical commitment to “seek first the kingdom of God and his justice” convinced that all the rest will be given according to the gospel promise. All the works he set in motion during his life reflect this preferential option for the poorest, the lowliest, the abandoned.
The more we read of the Saints, the more we know the answer without any doubt. For it has been given to us by God Himself, “whatever you do unto the least of these my brethren you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:45) So why on earth do we keep asking the same questions?
St Luigi Scrosoppi Pray for us!
Quote of the Day – 3 April
St Luigi Scrosoppi
One Minute Reflection – 3 April 2017
I am not seekng my own will but the will of him who sent me…………….John 5:30
REFLECTION – “The weariness, persevering effort, constant work
and the tiresome attention needed to assist
and teach them should not cause you discouragement
because you know you are doing all this for Jesus”.
PRAYER – Heavenly Father, let me strive – through constant prayer and careful reflection to know Your will for me. Then help me Lord to offer You what You desire rather than what I want. Let me love You first and above all and then my neighbour as myself. St Luigi Scrosoppi, pray for us, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 3 April
Lord Jesus, think on me,
and purge away my sin.
From earth-born passions set me free,
and make me pure within.
Lord Jesus, think on me,
amid the battle’s strife.
In all my pain and misery
be Thou my health and life.
Lord Jesus, think on me,
nor let me go astray.
Through darkness and perplexity
point Thou the heavenly way.
Lord Jesus, think on me,
that, when this life is past,
I may the eternal brightness see,
and share Thy joy at last.
By Bishop Synesius of Cyrene (370-430)
From the Breviary – Lent
Thought for the Day – 18 March
In times of great turmoil and controversy, it is difficult sometimes to know what is true and what is right and sometimes we have to grope our way along. We have to follow the truth and give it our full loyalty, at whatever cost. Sometimes that will mean that we are a majority of one. That is what truth demands of us! Those who imagine that the lives of saints are simple and placid, untouched by the vulgar breath of controversy, are rudely shocked by history. Yet, it should be no surprise that saints, indeed all Christians, will experience the same difficulties as their Master. The definition of truth is an endless, complex pursuit, and good men and women have suffered the pain of both controversy and error. Intellectual, emotional and political roadblocks may slow up people like Cyril for a time. But their lives taken as a whole are monuments to honesty and courage.
During this Lenten season, we reflect upon our beliefs and as Easter approaches, we renew our baptismal vows, using the words that Saint Cyril used.
Is our faith strong enough to endure accusation and exile?
How can we commit ourselves more fully to our Lord, our Church and our Creed?
St Cyril of Jerusalem Pray for us!
Quote/s of the Day – 18 March
“Approaching do not come with thy palms stretched flat nor with fingers separated. But making thy left hand a seat for thy right and hollowing thy palm, receive the Body of Christ, responding Amen. And having with care hallowed thine eyes by the touch of the Holy Body, take it, vigilant lest thou drop any of it. For shouldst thou lose any of it, it is as though thou wast deprived of a member of thy own body.” “Then after Communion of the Body of Christ, approach the Chalice of His Blood, not extending thy hands but bending low, and with adoration and reverence saying Amen, sanctify thyself by receiving also the Blood of Christ. And while thy lips are yet wet, touch them with thy hands and sanctify thy eyes and thy forehead and thy other senses.”
“We are to make the sign of the cross when we eat and drink, sit, go to bed, get up, talk, walk, in short, in every action.”
“If thou should be in foreign cities, do not simply ask where is the church – but where is the Catholic Church, for this is the proper name of this holy Mother of all.”
One Minute Reflection – 18 March
You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, rich in clemency and loathe to punish……….Jon 4:2
REFLECTION – “How great is God’s love for men! Some good men have been found pleasing to God because of years of work. What they achieved by working for many hours at a task pleasing to God is freely given to you by Jesus in one short hour. For if you believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved and taken up to paradise by Him, just as He brought the thief there. Do not doubt that this is possible. After all, He saved the thief on the holy hill of Golgotha because of one hour’s faith; will He not save you too since you have believed? “………… St Cyril of Jersualem (315-386) Father and Doctor of the Church
PRAYER – Merciful Lord, come to my aid quickly in time of despair! Let me rely on the infinite merits of Your suffering Son, Who died for me. St Cyril pray for us all that we may always remain true to the Cross of Christ and our Holy Mother Church, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 18 March
The Elder Brother’s Prayer
Teach me, my Lord,
to be sweet and gentle in all the events of life,
in disappointments,
in the thoughtlessness of those I trusted,
in the unfaithfulness of those on whom I relied.
Let me put myself aside,
to think of the happiness of others,
to hide my little pains and heartaches,
so that I may be the only one to suffer from them.
Teach me to profit by the suffering
that comes across my path.
Let me so use it that it may make me
patient, not irritable.
That it may make me broad in my forgiveness,
not narrow, haughty and overbearing.
May no one be less good
for having come within my influence.
No one less pure, less true, less kind,
less noble for having been a fellow traveler
in our journey toward Eternal Life.
As I go my rounds from one distraction to another,
let me whisper from time to time,
a word of love to Thee.
May my life be lived in the supernatural,
full of power for good,
and strong in its purpose of sanctity.
Amen
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