Category: SACRAMENTS

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, EUCHARISTIC Adoration, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SACRAMENTS, SUNDAY REFLECTIONS, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS

Sunday Reflection – 23 June – O precious and wonderful banquet!

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Sunday Reflection – 23 June – The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

O precious and wonderful banquet!

Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
Priest and Doctor of the Church

An excerpt from On the Feast of the Body of Christ

Since it was the will of God’s only-begotten Son that men should share in His divinity, He assumed our nature, in order that by becoming man He might make men gods. Moreover, when He took our flesh He dedicated the whole of its substance to our salvation.   He offered His body to God the Father, on the altar of the cross, as a sacrifice for our reconciliation.   He shed His blood for our ransom and purification, so that we, might be redeemed, from our wretched state of bondage and cleansed from all sin.   But to ensure that the memory of so great a gift would abide with us forever, He left His body as food and His blood as drink, for the faithful to consume, in the form of bread and wine.

O precious and wonderful banquet that brings us salvation and contains all sweetness!  Could anything be of more intrinsic value?   Under the old law it was the flesh of calves and goats that was offered but here Christ Himself, the true God, is set before us as our food.   What could be more wonderful than this?   No other sacrament has greater healing power, through it, sins are purged away, virtues are increased and the soul is enriched with an abundance of every spiritual gift.   It is offered in the Church for the living and the dead, so that what was instituted for the salvation of all, may be for the benefit of all.   Yet, in the end, no one can fully express the sweetness of this sacrament, in which spiritual delight is tasted at its very source and in which we renew the memory of that surpassing love for us, which Christ revealed in His passion.

It was to impress the vastness of this love more firmly upon the hearts of the faithful, that our Lord instituted this sacrament at the Last Supper.   As He was on the point of leaving the world to go to the Father, after celebrating the Passover with His disciples, He left it as a perpetual memorial of His passion.   It was the fulfilment of ancient figures and the greatest of all His miracles, while for those who were to experience the sorrow of His departure, it was destined to be a unique and abiding consolation.o precious and wonderful banquet - st thomas aquinas sun reflec corpus christi 23 june 2019.jpg

Posted in Archbishop Alban GOODIER SJ, LAPSED Catholics, MINI SERIES, PRAYER WARRIORS, PRAYERS for VARIOUS NEEDS, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on the CHURCH, SACRAMENTS

Thought for the Day – 16 May – “The Lost Catholic”

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Thought for the Day – 16 May – Thursday of the Fourth week of Easter, C, Gospel: John 13:16–20

Archbishop Alban Goodier, SJ (1869-1939)

“The Lost Catholic”
Part One

1.   Introduction
No-one who has once realised what it is to be a Catholic can feel anything but sadness for one who has lost the Catholic faith, who once was a Catholic and is now a Catholic no more, no matter what may have been the reason.

It is sad enough to know so many who, through no fault of their own, have not the Catholic faith, whose forefathers lost it for them and deprived them of their inheritance, who do not know and have never known, all that it means.

But one who has once known it and has lost it, who has been argued or cajoled out of it, whose life has led him to drop it, who has been careless and let it go, who has surrendered it for something else, those who know and love such a one, know also that he has lost, thrown away, something for which nothing else can compensate, something more dear than life itself.

Let, then, such a one not be surprised if those who love him are troubled and sad about him; they cannot help it.   They long to give him back what he has lost, they spare no pains that he may be as he was before, they look on that reward as worth all the labour and suffering it may entail.

2. The Catholic no more

Who are they and how has it all come about?

First, there are the children:

who have never learnt to appreciate the value or beauty of their inheritance;

or whose parents have set them a sorry example and so spoilt them;

or who have learnt their religion as a schoolroom lesson only and it has withered;

or who have never seen that it mattered much one way or the other.

Second, there are young boys and girls:

who have been deluded by the prospect of a happy and free life before them.

or who have lived among godless companions and through shame, through human respect, through banter, through a

little coaxing, through temptation, perhaps through sin, have become as they;

or who have been carried away by their surroundings and the faith of their childhood has been ignored or forgotten,

and finally rejected.

Third, there are young men and women:

whose study and, reading, it may be, in the days when they were not yet mature, nor able to form a proper judgement,

has led them to wonder, to doubt, at last to be dissatisfied and turn away;

or who have come under some influence stronger than themselves and they have surrendered;

some unbelieving teacher or friend, whose arguments they could not answer;

some man or woman whom they have loved and who has made them sacrifice their faith for that love some companion who has led them on, till they have lost the reality for the shadow;

or who have found the practice of the faith a hindrance to their ambition in life, to promotion, to association with those who would help them, to the use of such means as their faith will not allow.

Fourth, there are the grown-up:

who are married and who find the laws of their faith concerning married life a burden;

or who, having once, slipped away, or having been away so long, are unable to bring themselves back, and prefer to

remain where they are;

or who have been antagonised by some opposition, by some scandal, by some regulation, which they have resented.

Fifth, and last, among all these classes, among young and old, there are those,

whom, in a proud and passionate moment, self-will has mastered and they have said:

‘I will not serve; or whom this world with its false fascination has mastered and they have said:   ‘I will have here my ‘reward; or whom sin and passion have conquered and they hardened conscience and said:  ‘I will be free, I will have my own way, I will do my own pleasure.

to be continued…/

Let us Pray:

For the Return of Lapsed Catholics to the Sacraments
By Ven Servant of God Fr John A Hardon SJ (1914-2000)

Almighty Father,
You desire not the death of the sinner
but that he may be converted and live.
Pour out upon us Your mercy
and hear the prayers of Your servants.
Soften the hearts of Your children who have strayed,
from the true path, which You established for their salvation.
They are now forgetful of their duties as Catholics
and pursue the pleasures of the world.
Grant that they may quickly return
to the practice of every Christian virtue,
so that their lives may shine
with the integrity of faith,
the fervour of piety
and the ardour of charity.
Restore them to Your sacraments
and the life of Your grace,
through the merits
of the most precious blood of Your Son,
our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amenprayer for the return of lapsed catholics to the sacraments - ven sof john a hardon sj 16 may 2019 part one.jpg

 

Posted in BAPTISM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SACRIFICE, QUOTES on the DEVIL/EVIL, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 7 May – “We have been set free…”

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One Minute Reflection – 7 May – Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter, C, Gospel: John 6:30–35 and the Memorial of St Agostino Roscelli

“…My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.”...John 6:32bjohn 6 35 - the eucharist is the father's gift to the world.jpg

REFLECTION – ““Sing a new song to the Lord!” (Ps 96[95]:1).   It is a new song to match a new situation.   As Paul wrote: “Whoever is in Christ is a new creation:  the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come” (2Cor 5:17).   Those who were Israelites according to the flesh were set free from the tyranny of the Egyptians thanks to their mediator at that time, all-wise Moses, they were set free from their levy of brickmaking, the useless sweat of their earthly toil…, the cruelty of their overseers, the inhuman harshness of Pharaoh.   They passed through the sea, ate manna in the wilderness, drank water that gushed forth from the rock, crossed dry-footed over the Jordan and entered into the Land of promise.

Now all of this has been renewed for our sakes and this new world is incomparably better than the old.   We have been set free, not from an earthly slavery but from a spiritual one, we have no longer been delivered from this world’s tasks but from the stains of carnal pleasure.   We have escaped, not from Egyptian foremen or an impious and pitiless tyrant, a man like ourselves but from cunning, immoral demons inciting us to sin and from Satan, the leader of their mob.

We have passed over the waves of this present life like a sea, with its commotion and insane bustle.   We have eaten spiritual manna, the bread that came down from heaven giving life to the world.   When we put our delight in the living waters of Christ, we drank from water that gushed from the rock.   We have passed over Jordan thanks to the grace of the holy baptism we were deemed worthy to receive.   We entered the Land promised to the saints and made ready for them, that land, which the Lord called to mind when he said:  “Blessed the gentle for they shall inherit the earth” (Mt 5:4)….St Cyril of Alexandria (380-444) Father & Doctor of the Churchmy father gives you the true bread john 6 32 -we have passed over - sdt cyril of alex 7 may 2019.jpg

PRAYER – Almighty Father, to whom this world, with all it’s goodness and beauty belongs, give us grace joyfully to begin this day in Your name and to fill it with the active love for You and our neighbour.   By the food You give us, to sustain us on this journey, we are brought to holiness in Your Son, our Lord Jesus the Christ, whom You gave to us as our food.   May the Mother of Your Son and our mother, lead us to You and may the prayers of St Agostino Roscelli, be a succour on our way.   Through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God now and forever, amen.mary most holy pray for us - 9 nov 2018

st agostino roscelli pray for us 7 may 2019

Posted in BAPTISM, CATHOLIC Quotes, CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, QUOTES on the CHURCH, SACRAMENTS, The ASCENSION of the LORD, The HOLY CROSS, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The RESURRECTION

Thought for the Day- 4 May – God’s Plan of Salvation

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Thought for the Day- 4 May – Saturday of the Second Week of Easter

God’s Plan of Salvation

Second Vatican Council

An excerpt from Sacrosanctum Concilium, #7-8

In His desire that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, God spoke in former times to our forefathers through the prophets, on many occasions and in different ways.   Then, in the fullness of time He sent His Son, the Word made man, anointed by the Holy Spirit, to bring good news to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted as the physician of body and spirit and the mediator between God and men.   In the unity of the person of the Word, His human nature was the instrument of our salvation.   Thus in Christ, there has come to be, the perfect atonement that reconciles us with God and we have been given the power to offer the fullness of divine worship.

This work of man’s redemption and God’s perfect glory was foreshadowed by God’s mighty deeds among the people of the Old Covenant.   It was brought to fulfilment by Christ the Lord, especially through the paschal mystery of His blessed passion, resurrection from the dead and ascension in glory – by dying He destroyed our death, and by rising again He restored our life.   From His side, as He lay asleep on the cross, was born that wonderful sacrament, which is the Church in its entirety.

As Christ was sent by the Father, so in His turn He sent the apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit.   They were sent to preach the Gospel to every creature, proclaiming that we had been set free from the power of Satan and from death by the death and resurrection of God’s Son and brought into the kingdom of the Father.   They were sent also to bring into effect, this saving work that they proclaimed, by means of the sacrifice and sacraments that are the pivot of the whole life of the liturgy.

So, by baptism men are brought within the paschal mystery. Dead with Christ, buried with Christ, risen with Christ, they receive the Spirit that makes them God’s adopted children, crying out – Abba, Father and so they become the true adorers that the Father seeks.

In the same way, whenever they eat the supper of the Lord they proclaim His death until He comes.   So, on the very day of Pentecost, on which the Church was manifested to the world, those who received the word of Peter were baptised.   They remained steadfast in the teaching of the apostles and in the communion of the breaking of bread, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people.

From that time onward the Church has never failed to come together to celebrate the paschal mystery, by reading what was written about Him in every part of Scripture, by celebrating the Eucharist in which the victory and triumph of His death are shown forth, and also by giving thanks to God for the inexpressible gift He has given in Christ Jesus, to the praise of God’s glory.

Glory be to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning,
is now and ever shall be world without end.
Amenglory be to the father and - 4 may 2019

Posted in BAPTISM, CARMELITES, DOCTORS of the Church, DOMINICAN OP, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on SANCTITY, SAINT of the DAY, The HOLY GHOST, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 29 April – “A ray of sunlight shining on a smudgy window”

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One Minute Reflection – 29 April – Monday of the Second week of Easter, Year C, Gospel: John 3:1–8 and the Memorial of St Peter of Verona OP (1205–1252)

“…that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”...John 3:6

REFLECTION – “We read in Saint John – No one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.   To be reborn in the Holy Spirit during this life is to become most like God in purity, without any mixture of imperfection.   Accordingly, pure transformation can be effected – although not essentially – through the participation of union.

Here is an example that will provide a better understanding of this explanation.   A ray of sunlight shining on a smudgy window, is unable to illumine that window completely and transform it into its own light.   It could do this, if the window were cleaned and polished… The extent of illumination is not dependent on the ray of sunlight but on the window.   If the window is totally clean and pure, the sunlight will so transform and illumine it, that to all appearances the window will be identical with the ray of sunlight and shine just as the sun’s ray.   Although, obviously, the nature of the window is distinct from that of the sun’s ray, even if the two seem identical, we can assert, that the window is the ray or light of the sun by participation.

The soul on which the divine light of God’s being is ever shining, or better, in which it is ever dwelling by nature, is like this window.   A soul makes room for God by wiping away all the smudges and smears of creatures, by uniting its will perfectly to God’s, for to love is to labour, to divest and deprive oneself for God, of all that is not God.   When this is done, the soul will be illumined by and transformed in God.”…St John of the Cross (1542-1591) Doctor of the Churchjohn 3 6 that which is born of the spirit - a ray of sunlight - st john of the cross - 29 april 2019

PRAYER – Almighty God and Father, grant that Your faithful people who were buried with Your Son in baptism, may by His Resurrection and intercession at Your right hand, obtain for us eternal life.   Send Your Spirit upon Your adopted children and lead us in Your way.   Grant that by the intercession of St Peter of Verona, our path may be straightened and glow with Your light.   Through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.st peter of verona pray for us 29 april 2019

Posted in BAPTISM, CONFIRMATION, DOCTORS of the Church, EASTER, EXTREME UNCTION, FATHERS of the Church, HOLY ORDERS, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SACRAMENTS, The HOLY GHOST

Thought for the Day – 26 April – The Anointing with the Holy Spirit

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Thought for the Day – 26 April – Friday in the Octave of Easter

The Anointing with the Holy Spirit

Saint Cyril of Jerusalem (315-387)
Bishop, Father & Doctor of the Church

An excerpt from his Mystagogical Catechesis 3

When we were baptised into Christ and clothed ourselves in Him, we were transformed into the likeness of the Son of God.   Having destined us to be His adopted sons, God gave us a likeness to Christ in His glory and living as we do, in communion with Christ, God’s anointed, we ourselves are rightly called “the anointed ones.”   When He said: Do not touch my anointed ones, God was speaking of us.

We became “the anointed ones” when we received the sign of the Holy Spirit.   Indeed, everything took place in us by means of images, because we ourselves are images of Christ.   Christ bathed in the river Jordan, imparting to its waters the fragrance of His divinity and, when He came up from them, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him, like resting upon like.   So we also, after coming up from the sacred waters of baptism, were anointed with chrism, which signifies the Holy Spirit, by whom Christ was anointed and of whom blessed Isaiah prophesied in the name of the Lord – The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me. He has sent me to preach good news to the poor.

Christ’s anointing was not by human hands, nor was it with ordinary oil.   On the contrary, having destined Him to be the Saviour of the whole world, the Father Himself anointed Him with the Holy Spirit.   The words of Peter bear witness to this – Jesus of Nazareth, whom God anointed with the Holy Spirit.   And David the prophet proclaimed: Your throne, O God, shall endure for ever; your royal sceptre is a sceptre of justice.   You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above all your fellows.

The oil of gladness with which Christ was anointed was a spiritual oil, it was in fact the Holy Spirit Himself, who is called the oil of gladness, because He is the source of spiritual joy.   But we too have been anointed with oil and by this anointing, we have entered into fellowship with Christ and have received a share in His life.   Beware of thinking that this holy oil is simply ordinary oil and nothing else.   After the invocation of the Spirit it is no longer ordinary oil but the gift of Christ and by the presence of His divinity, it becomes the instrument, through which we receive the Holy Spirit.   While symbolically, on our foreheads and senses, our bodies are anointed with this oil that we see, our souls are sanctified by the holy and life-giving Spirit.beware of thinking that this holy oil - st cyril of jerusalem 26 april 2019 easter friday - anointingwiththeholyspirit.jpg

Posted in BAPTISM, CATECHESIS, DOCTORS of the Church, EASTER, FATHERS of the Church, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SACRAMENTS

Thought for the Day – 25 April- Baptism is a symbol of Christ’s passion

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Thought for the Day – 25 April – Thursday in the Octave of Easter

Congratulations to those who entered
the Church through the Sacraments of Initiation,
(Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Communion)
at the Easter Vigil.
You are now members with us,
in the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.
Welcome Home!

congrats to new catholics - welcome home - 25 april 2019 easter thurs

Baptism is a symbol of Christ’s passion

Saint Cyril of Jerusalem (315-387)
Bishop, Father, Doctor of the Church

An excerpt from his Mystagogical Catechesis 3

You were led down to the font of holy baptism just as Christ was taken down from the cross and placed in the tomb which is before your eyes.   Each of you was asked, “Do you believe in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit?”   You made the profession of faith that brings salvation, you were plunged into the water and three times you rose again.   This symbolised the three days Christ spent in the tomb.

As our Saviour spent three days and three nights in the depths of the earth, so your first rising from the water represented the first day and your first immersion represented the first night.   At night a man cannot see but in the day he walks in the light.   So when you were immersed in the water, it was like night for you and you could not see but when you rose again, it was like coming into broad daylight   In the same instant, you died and were born again, the saving water was both your tomb and your mother.

Solomon’s phrase in another context is very apposite here.   He spoke of a time to give birth and a time to die.   For you, however, it was the reverse – a time to die and a time to be born, although, in fact, both events took place at the same time and your birth was simultaneous with your death.

This is something amazing and unheard of!   It was not we who actually died, were buried and rose again.  We only did these things symbolically but we have been saved in actual fact.   It is Christ who was crucified, who was buried and who rose again and all this has been attributed to us.   We share in His sufferings symbolically and gain salvation in reality.   What boundless love for men!   Christ’s undefiled hands were pierced by the nails, He suffered the pain.   I experience no pain, no anguish, yet, by the share that I have in His sufferings, He freely grants me salvation.

Let no one imagine that baptism consists only in the forgiveness of sins and in the grace of adoption.   Our baptism is not like the baptism of John, which conferred only the forgiveness of sins.   We know perfectly well that baptism, besides washing away our sins and bringing us the gift of the Holy Spirit, is a symbol of the sufferings of Christ.  This is why Paul exclaims:  Do you not know that when we were baptised into Christ Jesus we were, by that very action, sharing in His death?   By baptism we went with Him into the tomb.we know perfectly weel that baptism - st cyril of jerusalem - 25 april 2019 easter thurs.jpg

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SACRAMENTS, SUNDAY REFLECTIONS, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS

Sunday Reflection – 1 July – By St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787)

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Sunday Reflection – 1 July – By St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787)

O my dear Jesus, what can You do to make me love You?
Make me understand, what an excess of love You have shown me, by reducing Yourself to food,
in order to unite Yourself to poor sinners!
You, my dear Redeemer, have so much affection for me,
that You have not refused to give Yourself, again and again, entirely to me in Holy Communion.
And yet, I have had the courage to drive You away from my soul on so many occasions!
You do not despise a humble and contrite heart.
You became human for my sake.
You died for me.
You even went so far as to become my food.
What more can there remain for You to do in order to gain my love?
Oh, that I could die with grief, every time that I remember, that I have despised Your grace.
I repent, O my love, with my whole heart for having offended You.
I love You, O infinite goodness! I love You, O infinite love!
I desire nothing but to love You and I fear nothing but to live without Your love.
My beloved Jesus, do not refuse to come to me.
Come, because I would rather die a thousand times than drive You away again.
I will do all that I can to please You.
Come and inflame my whole soul with Your love.
Grant that I may forget everything, to think only of You,
and to desire You alone,
my sovereign and my only good.prayer before holy communion - o my dear jesus - 1 july 2018

Posted in CONFESSION/PENANCE, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES/PRAYERS on THE FAMILY, SACRAMENTS, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 15 March – The Memorial of St Clement Mary Hofbauer C.Ss.R.(1751-1820)

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One Minute Reflection – 15 March – The Memorial of St Clement Mary Hofbauer C.Ss.R.(1751-1820)

What father among you will give his son a snake if he asks for a fish?...Luke 11:11

REFLECTION – There are “cases on record of boys who on their knees begged their parents to go to confession, accompanied them to the church and waited near the confessional until father or mother came out radiating the happiness of a new-found peace” … St Clement Mary Hofbauer

there are cases on record - st clement mary hofbauer - 15 march 2018

PRAYER – All-merciful Father, help me to be ever open to Your love and mercy, running to You in all my needs and in all my fears.   Allow me too, to run to the confessional when I have sinned, to ask for and receive forgiveness and love.   Grant that the prayers of St Clement Mary Hofbauer, may assist us all in living holy lives according to Your Commandments and the laws of the Church. Amenst clement mary hofbauer - pray for us - 15 march 2018-no 3

Posted in CONFESSION/PENANCE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on OBEDIENCE, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on TEMPTATION, SACRAMENTS, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS

Lenten Reflection – 13 March 2018 – Tuesday of the 4th Week of Lent

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Lenten Reflection – 13 March – Tuesday of the 4th Week of Lent

Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12, Psalms 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9, John 5:1-16

Ezekiel 47:9 – And wherever the river goes every living creature which swarms will live, and there will be very many fish; for this water goes there, that the waters of the seak may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes.

John 5:6-9 – When Jesus saw him and knew that he had been lying there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is troubled, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your pallet, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his pallet and walked.tuesday of the fourth week - 13 march 2018

The theme of life-giving water again dominates the readings of today’s Mass. “Come to the waters, all who thirst, though you have no money, come and drink with joy” (Entrance Antiphon).   The time for the prospective converts’ baptism is drawing near.
We need to be reminded that we don’t have to imagine ourselves as catechumens to share their desire and thirst.   We can and do, always long for greater and greater union in love “All who thirst, come to the waters.”   The Opening Prayer is not just for catechumens but for us all – “Father, may our lenten observance prepare us to embrace the paschal mystery and proclaim Your salvation with joyful praise.”
To embrace the paschal mystery is to die and rise with Jesus.   It is the ultimate glory of every human, baptised or not.   If we do not yet experience the fullness of the thirst for God signified by the living waters of baptism, it may well be that our thirst has been dulled by our personal alienation from Christ.   Conversion to Christ is ongoing, it never ends!   This conversion we claim to be working at, is it for real and for how long?   We don’t have to tell our Lord that we have no-one to put us into the water, we KNOW where the pool is – it is the Sacrament of Confession, it is in Confession where He heals us just as He healed the man at the pool!   The healing pool is also the Eucharist and certainly, it will be the grace-filled moment of our baptismal renewal on Holy Saturday night and Easter.

What the catechumens longed for, we possess now – Baptism, the Eucharist, Confession and these are always available. We don’t even have to wait for Easter!

In our Easter encounter with Him who is our Good Shepherd and who says, “I lay down my life for my sheep”, satisfies all our wants and desires and needs.   “In green pastures He will give us rest, He will lead us along the waters of peace” (Communion Antiphon).   In the Eucharist, in Confession, God is and always will be in our midst!   Run to Him, praise Him!…(Fr E Lawrence OSB- Daily Meditations for Lent)

When has God been most present to you?
How often to I attend Daily Mass and Confession?
Could I change this practise – today and for the rest of my life?

“Ah, who would not be touched? …. A God who weeps with so many tears at the loss of one soul and Who cries unceasingly:  My friend, my friend, why proceedest thou thus to lose thy soul and thy God?   Stop! Stop!   Ah! Look at my tears, my Blood which flows yet. Must I die a second time to save thee?   Look at me.   Ah! Angels from Heaven descend upon earth, come and weep with me for the loss of this soul!   Oh, that a Christian should be so unfortunate as to persevere still in running towards the abyss despite the voice which his God causes him to hear continually!   But, you may say to me, no one says these things to us.   Oh my friends, unless you want to stop up your ears, you will hear the voice of God, which follows you unceasingly.

Tell me, my friends, then, what is this remorse of conscience which overwhelms you in the midst of sin?   Why do these anxieties and storms agitate you?   Why this fear, this dread that you are in, when you seem to be forever expecting to be crushed by the thunders of Heaven?   How many times, even when you were sinning, have you not experienced the touch of an invisible hand which seemed to push you away, as if someone were saying:   Unhappy man, what are you doing?   Unhappy man, where are you going?   Ah my son, why do you wish to damn yourself? ….

Would you not agree with me that a Christian who despises so many graces deserves to be abandoned and rejected because he has not listened to the voice of God or profited by His graces?   On the contrary, my dear brethren, it is God Himself Who is scorned by this ungrateful soul who would seem to wish to put Him to death again.   All creation demands vengeance and it is, in fact, God alone Who wishes to save this soul and Who is opposed to all that could be prejudicial to it.

He watches over its salvation as if it were the only soul in the world.”...St John Vianney (1786-1859)

For a small teardrop from the eye
can cause an entire evil platoon of the Tempter’s
army to shrink away,
like the squirming of centipedes or earthworms,
drowning in a puddle of oil or a drop of
some lethal potion.
And the faint groan of a sighing heart,
rising from the soul,
is like a warm southerly breeze, mixed with sun,
that melts the fiercest blizzard,
for like storms, they are easily born and when
opposed, quickly die.

St Gregory of Narek (c951-c1010) Doctor of the Churchfor a small teardrop from the eye - st gregory of narek - 13 march 2018

Posted in CONFESSION/PENANCE, LENT, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, SACRAMENTS, SPEAKING of ....., Thomas a Kempis

Thought for the Day – 13 March – Tuesday of the 4th Week of Lent – “Speaking of Confession”

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Thought for the Day – 13 March – Tuesday of the 4th Week of Lent – “Speaking of Confession”

ANNUAL EASTER DUTY CONFESSIONS – St John Vianney (1786-1859)

If Easter were prolonged to Pentecost, you would not go to Confession until Pentecost, or if the latter did not come around for ten years, you would go to Confession only every ten years.   Indeed, if the Church did not give you a commandment about it, you would not go to Confession until death.   What do you think of that, my dear brethren?   Does it not mean that you have neither regret for having offended God, Who requires you to go to Confession, nor love for God, Who requires you to make your Easter Communion?

Ah you will say to me, that’s all very well.   We do not make our Easter duty without knowing why.

Ah! You know nothing at all about it!   You do it from habit, to be able to say you have made your Easter duty, or, if you would prefer to speak the truth, you would say that you have added a new sin to your old ones.   It is not, therefore, either love of God or regret for having offended Him which makes you go to Confession or make your Easter duty, or even the desire to lead a more Christian life.   And here is the proof of it:  if you loved God, would you consent to commit sin with such ease and even with so much enjoyment?   If you had a horror of sin, as you should have, would you be able to keep it,for a whole year, on your conscience?   If you had a real desire to live a more Christian life, would we not see at least some little change in your way of living?

No, my dear brethren, I do not wish to talk to you today about those unfortunate people who tell only half their sins through fear of not making their Easter duty or of being refused Absolution — perhaps even for the sake of covering up their shameful lives with the veil of virtue and who, in this state, approach the altar and are going to complete their dreadful work by handing over their God to the Devil and precipitating their sacrilegious souls into Hell.

No, I dare to hope that this does not concern you but I will continue, nevertheless, to tell you that going to Confession only once a year is not something about which you should feel any peace or satisfaction.annual easter duty - st john vianney - 13 march 2018

“You cannot have two heavens – it is impossible to enjoy yourself here and afterward to reign with Christ.”…Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471) – Book I The Imitation of Christyou cannot have two heavens - thomas a kempis - 13 march 2018

Posted in JESUIT SJ, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SACRAMENTS, SACRED and IMMACULATE HEARTS, SAINT of the DAY, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The HOLY GHOST

Quote/s of the Day – 15 February – The Memorial of St Claude de la Colombiere S.J. (1641-1682)

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Quote/s of the Day – 15 February – The Memorial of St Claude de la Colombiere S.J. (1641-1682)

“May the Heart of Jesus Christ be our school!
Let us make our abode there.
Let us study its movements
and attempt to conform ours to them.
Yes, O Divine Jesus, I want to live there.”

“When the Holy Spirit is in a soul,
He communicates Himself,
in one way or another.
We can say that He makes virtue contagious
and turns a simple faithful into an apostle.”may the heart of jesus christ be our school - st claude de la colombiere - 15 feb 2018

“God is in the midst of us, or rather,
we are in the midst of Him;
wherever we are, He sees us and touches us,
at prayer, at work, at table, at recreation.”god is in the midst of us - st claude de la colombiere - 15 feb 2018

“God is more honoured by a single Mass
than He could be by all the actions of angels
and men together, however fervent and heroic they might be.
Yet, how FEW hear Mass with the intention of giving God
this sublime honour!
How FEW think with joy on the glory a Mass gives to God.
How FEW rejoice to possess the means of honouring Him
as He deserves! . . .
If we only knew the treasure we hold in our hands!”

St Claude de la Colombiere (1641-1682)god-is-more-honoured-by-a-single-mass-st-claude - 15 feb 2017

“St Claude has been a dear friend of mine since I discovered his writings quite some years ago. . I count on his intercession. I turn to him when I feel my heart is tired and a little cold and distressed. This Saint of Hearts is a most willing guide leading us to the warmest Heart of Christ full of Mercy and Love.”

The Franciscan St John Wall O.F.M. (1620-1679) (Joachim of Saint Anne), who was martyred for the crime of being a Catholic priest near Redhill, Corcester, England on August 22nd, 1679, knew Saint Claude. After having spent a night in spiritual conversation with him, the soon–to–be martyr said,

“When I was in his presence I thought that I was dealing with Saint John returned to earth to rekindle that fire of love in the Heart of Christ.”

St John Wall O.F.M. (1620-1679)st-john-wall-on-st-claude.-15 feb 2018-when I was in his presence

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, EUCHARISTIC Adoration, FATHERS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SACRAMENTS, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS

Quote/s of the Day – 18 January – “Speaking of the Holy Eucharist/Holy Mass”

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Quote/s of the Day – 18 January – “Speaking of the Holy Eucharist/Holy Mass“

“Let us return from that Table,
like lions breathing out fire,
terrifying to the devil!”

St John Chrysostom (347-407) Father & Doctor of the Churchlet us return from that table - st john chrysostom - 18 jan 2018

“O Sacrament of Love!
O sign of Unity!
O bond of Charity!
He who would have Life finds here indeed
a Life to live in and a Life to live by.”

St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor of the Churcho sacrament of love - st augustine - 18 jan 2018

“What does the poor man do
at the rich man’s door,
the sick man in the presence of his physician,
the thirsty man at a limpid stream?
What they do, I do before the Eucharistic God.
I pray. I adore. I love.”

St Francis of Assisiwhat does the poor man do - st francis - 18 jan 2018

“Put all the good works in the world
against one Holy Mass;
they will be as a grain of sand
beside a mountain.”

St John Marie Baptiste Vianney (1786-1859)put all the good works - st john vianney - 18 jan 2018

“When you look at the crucifix,
you understand how much Jesus loved you then.
When you look at the Sacred Host,
you understand how much Jesus loves you now.”when you look - st mother teresa - 18 jan 2018

“Unless we believe and see Jesus
in the appearance of bread on the altar,
we will not be able to see Him
in the distressing disguise of the poor.”

St Mother Teresaunless we believe - st mother teresa - 18 jan 2018

Posted in FATHERS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SACRAMENTS, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 14 January -Speaking of the Holy Eucharist from the Fathers of the Church

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Quote/s of the Day – 14 January -Speaking of the Holy Eucharist from the Fathers of the Church

“Calling her children about her, she [the Church]
nourishes them with holy milk, that is, with the Infant Word…
The Word is everything to a child –
both Father and Mother, both Instructor and Nurse.
“EAT MY FLESH,” He says, “AND DRINK MY BLOOD.”
The Lord supplies us with these intimate nutriments.
He delivers over His Flesh and pours out His Blood
and nothing is lacking for the growth of His children.
O incredible mystery!”
(Instructor of Children 1:6:42,1,3)

St Clement of Alexandria (c 150-216) Church Father

“The flesh feeds on THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST,
so that the SOUL TOO may fatten on God.”
(Resurrection of the Dead 8:3)

“The Sacrament of the Eucharist,
which the Lord commanded to be taken
at meal times and by all, we take even before
daybreak in congregations…
… We take anxious care lest something
of our Cup or Bread should fall upon the ground…”
(The Crown 3:3-4)

Tertullian (c 155-250) Church Father

“You see how the ALTARS are no longer sprinkled
with the blood of oxen but consecrated
BY THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST.”
(Homilies on Joshua 2:1)

“You are accustomed to take part in the divine mysteries,
so you know how, when you have received
THE BODY OF THE LORD,
you reverently exercise every care lest a particle of it fall
and lest anything of the consecrated gift perish….
how is it that you think neglecting the word of God
a lesser crime than neglecting HIS BODY?”
(Homilies on Exodus 13:3)

Origen (c 185-254) Church Fatherthe holy eucharist-holy mass - church fathers - 14 jan 2018

“If Christ Jesus, our Lord and God,
is Himself the High Priest of God the Father;
and if He offered HIMSELF as a SACRIFICE
to the Father
and if He commanded that this be done in
commemoration of Himself –
then certainly the priest,
who imitates that which Christ did,
TRULY FUNCTIONS IN PLACE OF CHRIST.”
(Letters 63:14)

St Cyprian of Carthage (c 200-258) Church Fatherif christ jesus - st cyprian - 14 jan 2018

Posted in CHRISTMASTIDE!, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, MORNING Prayers, SACRAMENTS, SAINT of the DAY

Thought for the Day – 8 January 2018 – Christmastide ends with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord – Remembering and Celebrating our Baptisms – Adding a new date to our Calendars!

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Thought for the Day – 8 January 2018 – Christmastide ends with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord – Remembering and Celebrating our Baptisms – Adding a new date to our Calendars!goodbye christmastide 8 jan 2018- for this he bore our body - st basil the great

Today’s feast of the Baptism of the Lord ends the Christmas season and invites us to think of our Baptism.   Jesus willed to receive the baptism preached and administered by John the Baptist in the river Jordan.   It was a baptism of penance:  all those who approached it expressed the desire to be purified from sin and, with God’s help, committed themselves to begin a new life.

We understand then the great humility of Jesus, He who had not sinned, put himself in the queue with the penitents, mixing among them, to be baptised in the waters of the river.   What humility Jesus has!   And, by doing so, He manifested what we celebrated at Christmas:  Jesus’ willingness to immerse Himself in the river of humanity, to take upon himself the failures and weaknesses of men, to share their desire of liberation and to overcome all that distances one from God and renders brothers strangers.   As at Bethlehem, along the banks of the Jordan God keeps His promise to take charge of the human being’s fate and Jesus is the tangible and definitive sign of it.   He took charge of all of us, He takes charge of all of us, in life, in the days.

The feast of Jesus’ Baptism invites every Christian to remember his own Baptism.   I can’t ask you the question if you remember the day of your Baptism, because the majority of you were babies, like me…. However, I can ask you another question?   Do you know the date on which you were baptised? …And if you don’t know the date or have forgotten it, when you go home ask your mother, your grandmother, your uncle, your aunt, your grandfather, your godfather, your godmother – what was date?
And we must always have that date in our memory, because it’s a date of celebration, it’s the date of our initial sanctification;  it’s the date in which the Father gave us the Holy Spirit who pushes us to walk, it’s the date of the great forgiveness.
Don’t forget: what’s the date of my Baptism?

the holy spirit

We invoke the maternal protection of Mary Most Holy so that all Christians can understand increasingly the gift of Baptism and commit themselves to live it with coherence, witnessing the love of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. – Pope Francis, Angelus Address, 7 January 2018

So let us do exactly this, this is a date in need of remembrance and celebration, this date of our new birth – I am certainly going to do this for all my family.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Jesus’ solidarity with us
“Jesus shows His solidarity with us, with our efforts to convert and to be rid of our selfishnesss, to break away from our sins in order to tell us that if we accept Him in our life He can uplift us and lead us to the heights of God the Father.   And Jesus’ solidarity is not, as it were, a mere exercise of mind and will.   Jesus truly immersed himself in our human condition, lived it to the end, in all things save sin and was able to understand our weakness and frailty.   For this reason He was moved to compassion, He chose to “suffer with” men and women, to become a penitent with us.   This is God’s work which Jesus wanted to carry out:  the divine mission to heal those who are wounded and give medicine to the sick, to take upon himself the sin of the world.” ….. From Homily of Pope Benedict XVI on feast of the Baptism of the Lord 2013remember and celebrate our baptism day - 8 jan 2018

Posted in CHRISTMASTIDE!, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES/PRAYERS on THE FAMILY, SACRAMENTS, SAINT of the DAY, THE HOLY FAMILY - FAMILIAE SANCTAE

Quote of the Day – 31 December – Feast of the Holy Family

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Quote of the Day – 31 December – Feast of the Holy Family and the Seventh Day of the Octave

“God, to Whom Angels submit themselves
and Who Principalities and Powers obey,
was subject to Mary;
and not only to Mary but Joseph too, for Mary’s sake [….].
God obeyed a human creature;
this is humility without precedent.
A human creature commands God!
it is sublime beyond measure.“

St Bernard (1090-1153) – Doctor of the Church

Posted in EUCHARISTIC Adoration, GOD ALONE!, HOLY COMMUNION, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on PEACE, QUOTES on the POOR, QUOTES on TIME, SACRED and IMMACULATE HEARTS, SAINT of the DAY, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, Uncategorized

Quote/s of the Day – 16 October – The Memorials of St Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690) and St Gerard Majella (1725-1755)

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Quote/s of the Day – 16 October – The Memorials of St Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690) and St Gerard Majella (1725-1755)

“All for the Eucharist
nothing for me.”all for the eucharist - st m m - 16 oct 2017

“Announce it and let it be announced to the whole world,
that I set neither limit nor measure to my gifts of grace,
for those who seek them in my Heart.”
Revelations of Our Lord to St Margaret Mary Alacoqueannounce it and let it be announced - st margaret mary

“The Sacred Heart is the symbol
of that boundless love
which moved the Word to take flesh,
to institute the Holy Eucharist,
to take our sins upon Himself
and, dying on the Cross,
to offer Himself as a victim
and sacrifice to the eternal Father.”the sacred heart is the symbol - st mm - 16 oct 2017

“Let every knee bend before You,
O greatness of my God,
so supremely humbled in the Sacred Host.
May every heart love You,
every spirit adore You
and every will be subject to You!

St Margaret Mary Alacoque
let every knee bend before you - st mm 16 oct 2017

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“The Most Blessed Sacrament is Christ made visible.
The poor sick person is Christ again made visible.”

“Who except God can give you peace?
Has the world ever been able
to satisfy the heart?”

“Consider the shortness of time,
the length of eternity and reflect how everything
here below comes to an end and passes by.
Of what use is it to lean upon that,
which cannot give support? “

St Gerard Majella