Category: The WORD

Posted in "Follow Me", APRIL -MONTH of the RESURRECTION and the BLESSED SACAMENT, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, JESUIT SJ, QUOTES on DEATH, The RESURRECTION, The WORD, Thomas a Kempis

Quote/s of the Day – 1 April – I Am the Resurrection and the Life – John 11:25

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Quote/s of the Day – 1 April – Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent – 3 Kings 17:17-24, John 11:1-45

“I Am
the Resurrection
and the
Life”

John 11:25

“We have had Your treasure
hidden within us,
ever since we received baptismal grace,
it grows ever richer
at Your sacramental table.”

St Ephrem (306-373)
Father and Doctor of the Church

“Love Him, then, keep Him as a friend.
He will not leave you as others do,
or let you suffer lasting death.
Sometime, whether you will or not,
you will have to part with everything.
Cling, therefore, to Jesus in life and death,
trust yourself to the glory of Him,
Who alone can help you
when all others fail.“

Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)

“This death … has already levelled
his bow to strike me.
Is it not prudent to prevent its stroke,
by dying now to the world,
that at my death,
I may live to God?”

St Francis Borgia (1510-1572)

Posted in FATHERS of the Church, ONE Minute REFLECTION, The LAST THINGS, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 1 April – Lazarus, come forth!

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 1 April – Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent – 3 Kings 17:17-24, John 11:1-45

“Lazarus, come forth! And at once he who had been dead came forth, bound feet and hands with bandages and his face was tied up with a cloth. ”- John 11:43-44

REFLECTION – “Here we have a man past the prime of life, a corpse, decaying, swollen, in fact, already in a state of dissolution, so that even his own relatives did not want the Lord to draw near the tomb because the decayed body enclosed there, was so offensive . And yet, he is brought into life by a single call, confirming the proclamation of the resurrection, that is to say, that expectation of it, as universal, that we learn by a particular experience to entertain. For as in the regeneration of the universe, the Apostle tells us that “the Lord himself will descend with a shout, with the voice of the archangel” and by a trumpet sound, raise up the dead to incorruption — so now too, he who is in the tomb, at the Voice of command, shakes off death as if it were only sleep. He rids himself of the corruption that had come on his condition of a corpse, leaps forth from the tomb whole and sound, not even hindered as he leaves by the bonds of the grave cloths round his feet and hands.” … St Gregory of Nyssa (c 335–c 395) Father of the Church (On the Making of Man, 25).

PRAYER – O God, Who by Your wondrous sacraments renew the world, grant that Your Church may benefit from Your eternal decrees and not be deprived of temporal help. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in CHRIST the PHYSICIAN, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2022, LENTEN PRAYERS & NOVENAS, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on the CHURCH, The WORD

Thursday of the Fourth week in Lent – 31 March – Our Lenten Journey with the Great Fathers – ‘And what is this tomb?’

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Thursday of the Fourth week in Lent – 31 March – Our Lenten Journey with the Great Fathers – 4 Kings 4:25-38, Luke 7,11-16.

“Give thanks to the Lord, invoke His Name; make known among the nations His deeds.” – Psalm 104:1

And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.”

Luke 7:14

“EVEN IF the signs of death have removed all hope of life, even if the bodies of the dead lie beside the tomb, yet, at the Voice of God, the corpses of those ready to decompose, will rise and recover speech. The son is restored to his mother, he is called back from the tomb, snatched out of it.

AND WHAT IS THIS TOMB? Your own! Your bad habits, your lack of faith. This is the tomb from which Christ delivers you, this is the tomb from which you will return to life if you listen to the Word of God. Even if your sin is so grave, that you are unable to wash it clean for yourself, with your tears of repentance, the Church, your mother, she who intercedes for each one of her children, like a widowed mother for her only son, will weep for you. For she feels for it with a kind of spiritual suffering natural to her, when she sees her offspring, dragged down to death, by lamentable vices…

LET HER WEEP, then, this pious mother; let the crowd accompany her – and not just a crowd but a large crowd – and may it show compassion towards this tender mother. Then you will come to life again in your tomb and will be delivered, the bearers will stop and you will start to speak the words of the living; everyone will be astonished. The example of one will correct the many and they will praise God for having granted such remedies to us for escaping death.”…St Ambrose (c 340-397) Great Father & Doctor of the Church (A treatise on the Gospel of Saint Luke)

Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on FASTING, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 31 March – ‘ … May our Lord Jesus Christ also touch us … ‘

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One Minute Reflection – 31 March – Thursday of the Fourth week in Lent – 4 Kings 4:25-38, Luke :,11-16.

“And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.”- Luke 7:14

REFLECTION – “Observe how He joins miracle to miracle. In the former instance, the healing of the centurion’s servant, He was present by invitation but here, He draws near without being invited. No-one summoned Him to restore the dead man to life, but He comes to do so of His own accord. He seems to me to have purposely made this miracle also follow upon the former.

The dead man was being buried,and many friends were conducting him to his tomb. Christ, the Life and Resurrection, meets him there. He is the Destroyer of death and of corruption. He is the One in Whom we live and move and are. He is Who has restored the nature of man ,to that which it originally was and has set free our death-fraught flesh, from the bonds of death. He had mercy upon the woman and that her tears might be stopped, He commanded saying, “Weep not.” Immediately the cause of her weeping was done away with.

Christ raised him who was descending to his grave. The manner of his rising is plain to see. “He touched,” it says, “the bier and said, ‘Young man, I say unto thee, arise.’” … What is more powerful than the Word of God? Why then did He not work the miracle by only a word but also, He touched the bier? It was, my beloved, that you might learn, that the Holy Body of Christ is productive for the salvation of man. The Flesh of the Almighty Word is the Body of Life and was clothed with His might. Consider that iron, when brought into contact with fire, produces the effects of fire and fulfils its functions. The Flesh of Christ also has the power of giving Life and annihilates the influence of death and corruption because it is the Flesh of the Word, Who gives Life to all. May our Lord Jesus Christ also touch us that delivering us from evil works, even from fleshly lusts, He may unite us to the assemblies of the saints.” – St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444) Father and Doctor of the Church (Commentary on Luke, Homily 36).

PRAYER – Grant, we beseech You, Almighty God, that we, who are chastising the flesh by fasting, may rejoice in this holy practice and thus, with earthly passions subdued, we may the more readily direct our thoughts to heavenly things. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in "Follow Me", AUGUSTINIANS OSA, CHRIST the LIGHT, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2022, LENTEN PRAYERS & NOVENAS, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on OBEDIENCE, QUOTES on TRUTH, The FAITHFUL on PILGRIMAGE, The WORD

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent – 30 March – Our Lenten Journey with the Great Fathers – ‘… Let us do what He commands, so that we may not blush to covet what He promises… ‘

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Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent – 30 March – Our Lenten Journey with the Great Fathers – Isaias 1:16-19, John 9:1-38

“Wash yourselves, be clean, take away the evil of your devices from My eyes, cease to do perversely, Learn to do well: seek judgement, relieve the oppressed, judge for the fatherless, defend the widow.” – Isaias 1:16-17

“And Jesus passing by, saw a man
who was blind from his birth. …
As long as I am in the world,
I am the Light of the world.
When He had said these things,
He spat on the ground
and made clay of the spittle
and spread the clay upon his eyes,”

John 9:1,5-6

“THE LORD TELLS US – I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me, will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.
In these few words He gives a COMMAND and makes a PROMISE.
Let us do what He commands, so that we may not blush to covet what He promises and to hear Him say on the day of judgement: “I laid down certain conditions for obtaining My promises. Have you fulfilled them?”
If you say: “What did you command, Lord our God?” He will tell you: “I commanded you to follow Me. You asked for advice on how to enter into life. What life, if not the life about which it is written: With you is the fountain of life?”

LET US DO NOW what He commands.
Let us follow in the footsteps of the Lord.
Let us throw off the chains that prevent us from following Him.
Who can throw off these shackles without the aid of the One addressed in these words: You have broken my chains? Another psalm says of Him: The Lord frees those in chains, the Lord raises up the downcast.

THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN FREED and raised up follow the Light.
The Light they follow speaks to them: I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me, will not walk in darkness.
The Lord gives Light to the blind.
Brethren, that Light shines on us now, for we have had our eyes anointed with the eye-salve of faith.
His saliva was mixed with earth to anoint the man born blind.
We are of Adam’s stock, blind from our birth; we need Him to give us Light.
He mixed saliva with earth and so it was prophesied: Truth has sprung up from the earth.
He Himself has said: I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. …

IF YOU LOVE ME, follow Me. “I do love you,” you protest “but how do I follow you?”
If the Lord your God said to you: “I am the truth and the life,” in your desire for truth, in your love for life, you would certainly ask Him to show you the way to reach them.
You would say to yourself: “Truth is a great reality, life is a great reality – if only it were possible for my soul to find them!” – St Augustine (354-430) Bishop, Great Western Father and Doctor of the Church (An excerpt from: On John [Treatise 34]).

Posted in CHRIST the LIGHT, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, GOD ALONE!, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES on FAITH, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 30 March – The Light of Life

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Quote/s of the Day – 30 March – Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent – Isaias 1:16-19, John 9:1-38

“I Am the Light of the world.”

John 9:5

“I am the Light of the world;
he who follows me will not walk in darkness
but will have the light of life.”

John 8:12

“The Light of Christ
is an endless day
that knows no night.”

St Maximus of Truin (Died 420)
Bishop, Father

Lord, Kindle our Lamps
By St Columban (543-615)

Lord, kindle our lamps,
Saviour most dear to us,
that we may always shine
in Your presence
and always receive Light
from You,
the Light Perpetual,
so that our own
personal darkness,
may be overcome
and the world’s darkness
driven from us.
Amen

“He is the origin of all wisdom.
The Word of God in the heights,
is the source of wisdom.
Christ is the source of all true knowledge,
for He is “the way, the truth and the life.” (Jn 14:6). …
As way, Christ is the teacher
and origin of knowledge …
Without this Light,
which is Christ,
no-one can penetrate
the secrets of faith.”

St Bonaventure (1221-1274)
Seraphic Doctor

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, I BELIEVE!, LENT 2022, LENTEN PRAYERS & NOVENAS, QUOTES on DOUBT, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on GRACE, The HOLY GHOST, The WORD

Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent – 29 March – Our Lenten Journey with the Great Fathers – ‘ … Will He not save you too, since you have believed? …’

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Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent – 29 March – Our Lenten Journey with the Great Fathers – Exodus 32:7-14, John 7:14-31

“Arise, O Lord, help us! Redeem us for Your Name’s sake.” – Psalm 43:26

“But of the people, many believed in him …”

John 7:31

“THE ONE WORD “FAITH” can have two meanings. One kind of faith concerns doctrines. It involves the soul’s ascent to and acceptance of some particular matter. It also concerns the soul’s good, according to the words of the Lord: Whoever hears my voice and believes in him who sent me has eternal life and will not come to be judged. And again: He who believes in the Son is not condemned but has passed from death to life.

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?

THE OTHER KIND OF FAITH is given by Christ by means of a special grace. To one wise sayings are given through the Spirit, to another perceptive comments by the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing. Now this kind of faith, given by the Spirit as a special favour, is not confined to doctrinal matters, for it produces effects beyond any human capability. If a man ,who has this faith, says to this mountain, move from here to there, it will move. For when anybody says thi,s in faith, believing it will happen and having no doubt in his heart, he then receives that grace.

IT IS THIS KIND OF FAITH, moreover, of which it is said – ‘If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed.’ The mustard seed is small in size but it holds an explosive force; although it is sown in a small hole, it produces great branches and when it is grown, birds can nest therein In the same way, faith produces great effects in the soul instantaneously. Enlightened by faith, the soul pictures God and sees Him as clearly as any soul can. It circles the earth; even before the end of this world, it sees the judgement and the conferring of promised rewards.

SO MAY YOU HAVE THE FAITH which depends on you and is directed to God, that you may receive from Him, that faith too, which transcends man’s capacity.” – St Cyril of Jerusalem (315-387) – Bishop, Confessor, Great Father and Doctor of the Church (An excerpt from his Catecheses 5).

Posted in AUGUSTINIANS OSA, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, I BELIEVE!, QUOTES on DOUBT, QUOTES on FAITH, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 29 March – The Way …

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 29 March – Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent – Exodus 32:7-14, John 7:14-31

“But of the people,many believed in him …”

John 7:31

“Take my yoke upon you
and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart
and you will find rest for yourselves…”

Matthew 11:29

“… There is one Road
and one only,
well secured against all possibility
of going astray
and, this Road is provided
by One Who is Himself
both God and man.
As God, He is the Goal,
as man, He is the Way.”

“Do you desire security?
Here you have it.
The Lord says to you,
“I will never abandon you,
I will always be with you.”
If a good man made you such a promise,
you would trust him.
God makes it and do you doubt?
Do you seek a support, more sure
than the Word of God, which is infallible?
Surely, He has made the promise,
He has written it,
He has pledged His Word for it,
it is most certain!”

St Augustine (354-430)
Bishop of Hippo
Father and Doctor of Grace

“May He,
Who is the Track of the runners
and the Reward of the winners,
lead and guide you along it –
He, Christ Jesus!”

Bl Guerric of Igny O.Cist (c 1080-1157)

Posted in CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on TRUTH, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 29 March – ‘ … Therefore, hold fast to Christ if you wish to be safe. …’

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One Minute Reflection – 29 March – Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent – Exodus 32:7-14, John 7:14-31

“But of the people, many believed in him …” – John 7:31

REFLECTION – “If, then, you are looking for the way by which you should go, take Christ because He Himself is the Way: This is the Way; walk in it. And Augustine says: Make man your way and you shall arrive at God. It is better to limp along the Way, than stride along off the Way. For a man who limps along the Way, even if he only makes slow progress, comes to the end of the Way but one who is off the Way, the more quickly he runs, the further away is he from his goal.

If you are looking for a goal, hold fast to Christ because He Himself is the Truth, where we desire to be. My mouth shall reflect on the Truth. If you are looking for a resting place, hold fast to Christ because He Himself is the Life. Whoever finds Me finds life and receives salvation from the Lord.

Therefore, hold fast to Christ if you wish to be safe. You will not be able to go astray because He is the Way. He who remains with Him does not wander in trackless places; he is on the right Way. Moreover, he cannot be deceived because He is the Truth and He teaches every Truth. And He says: For this I was born and for this I have come, to bear witness to the Truth. Nor can he be disturbed because He is both lLfe and the giver of life. For He says: I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly.” – St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Priest, Doctor of the Church (An excerpt from: Exposition on John – Chapter 14).

PRAYER – May the sacred practice of fasting, we beseech You, O Lord, win for us increased holiness of life and the continuing help of Your mercy. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2022, LENTEN PRAYERS & NOVENAS, QUOTES on FAITH, The WORD

Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent – 28 March – Our Lenten Journey with the Great Fathers – ‘ … Thus it is the Lord Who builds the house, it is the Lord Jesus Who builds His own dwelling. …’

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Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent – 28 March – Our Lenten Journey with the Great Fathers – 3 Kings 3:16-28, John 2:13-25

“Be my rock of refuge, O God, a stronghold to give me safety.” – Psalm 30:3

“Destroy this temple
and in three days
I will raise it up.”

John 2:19

“THE TEMPLE that Solomon built to the Lord was a type and figure of the future Church, as well as, of the Body of the Lord. For this reason Christ says in the Gospel: Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again. For just as Solomon built the ancient temple, so the true Solomon, the true Peacemaker, Our Lord Jesus Christ, built a temple for Himself. Now Solomon means peacemaker; Jesus, however, is the true Peacemaker, of Whom Saint Paul says: He is our peace, uniting the two into one. The true Peacemaker brought together, in Himself, two walls coming from different angles and Himself became the cornerstone. One wall was formed of the circumcised believers and the other of the uncircumcised gentiles who had faith. And of these two peoples, He made one Church, with Himself as the cornerstone and, therefore, the true Peacemaker.

AND SO, WHEN SOLOMON the King of Israel, the son of David and Bathsheba, built his temple, he acted as a figure of Christ, the true Solomon and Peacemaker. But I do not think it was Solomon of old, the type of Christ, who really built God’s dwelling. As the beginning of the psalm tells us: Unless the Lord build the house, in vain have the builders laboured on it. Thus it is the Lord Who builds the house, it is the Lord Jesus Who builds His own dwelling. Many may toil on its building,but unless He builds it, in vain have the builders laboured on it.

AND WHO ARE THOSE who labour on it? ll those who preach God’s word in the Church, who are ministers of His Sacraments . All of us now rush, work and build and before us, other men rushed, worked and built; still, unless the Lord build the house, in vain have the builders laboured on it. The Apostles and Paul specifically, saw some of them fail and said: You observe the days, the years, the months and the seasons; I fear that I may have toiled for you to no purpose. For realising that he was the result of the Lord’s building from within, he was sorrowful because he had toiled for them to no avail. Hence, we are the ones who speak from without but He builds from within. We notice the fact that you are listening but He alone knows what you are thinking, for He sees our thoughts. He is the One Who builds, admonishes, instills fear, opens the mind and bends the perceptions to the act of belief. Yet we too, His ministers, labour and are, as it were, His Workmen.” – St Augustine (354-430) Bishop and Great Western Father and Doctor of the Church (An excerpt from a Discourse on the Psalms).

Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2022, LENTEN PRAYERS & NOVENAS, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The WORD

Fourth Sunday of Lent “Laetare Sunday” – 27 March – Our Lenten Journey with the Great Fathers – ‘… Unless you hold out your hands to receive your portion, you will collapse along the way…’

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Fourth Sunday of Lent “Laetare Sunday” – 27 March – Our Lenten Journey with the Great Fathers – Galatians 4:22-31, John 6:1-15

“Mountains are round about Jerusalem; so the Lord is round about His people, both now and forever.” – Psalm 124:2

“When, therefore, Jesus had lifted up His eyes
and seen, that a very great crowd
had come to Him, He said to Philip,
“Whence shall we buy bread
that these may eat?”

John 6:5

“LORD JESUS how well I know You have no wish to allow these people here with me, to remain hungry but to feed them with the food You distribute and so, strengthened with Your food, they will have no fear of collapsing from hunger. I know, too, that You have no wish to send us away hungry, either… As you have said: You do not want them to collapse on the way, meaning, to collapse in the byways of this life, before reaching the end of the road, before coming to the Father and, understanding that You come from the Father…

OUR LORD TAKES PITY, then, so that none may collapse along the way… Just as He makes it rain on the just, as well as the unjust (Mt 5,45), so He feeds the just, as well as the unjust. Was it not thanks to the strength of the food, that the holy prophet Elijah, when he was collapsing on the way, was able to walk for forty days? (1Kgs 19,8). It was an Angel who gave that food to him but, in your case, it is Christ Himself Who feeds you. If you preserve the food you have received in this way, then you will walk, not forty days and forty nights… but for forty years, from your departure from the borders of Egypt, to your arrival in the land of plenty, the land where milk and honey flow (Ex 3,8)…

AND SO CHRIST shares out the foodstuffs and, there is no question, He wants to give it to all. He withholds it from no-one, for He provides for everyone. Nevertheless, when He breaks the loaves and gives them to the disciples, unless you hold out your hands to receive your portion, you will collapse along the way… This bread that Jesus breaks, is the Mystery of the Word of God: it increases as it is distributed. With only a few words Jesus has provided abundant nourishment for all peoples. He has given us His Words as bread and, while we are tasting them, they increase in our mouths… Even as the crowds are eating, the pieces increase and become more numerous, to such an extent, that, in the end, the leftovers are even more plentiful than the loaves that were shared.” – St Ambrose (c 340-397) Bishop of Milan, Great Father and Doctor of the Church (Commentary on the Gospel of Saint Luke, VI, 73-88).

Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, I BELIEVE!, MIRACLES, QUOTES on CREATION, QUOTES on FAITH, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 27 March – ‘ … We are preferred to them …’

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One Minute Reflection – 27 March – Fourth Sunday of Lent “Laetare Sunday” – Galatians 4:22-31, John 6:1-15

“When the people, therefore, had seen the sign which Jesus had worked, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet Who is to come into the world..” – John 6:14

REFLECTION – “Governing the entire universe, is a greater miracle, than feeding five thousand people with five loaves of bread, yet no-one marvels at it. People marvel at the feeding of the five thousand, not because this miracle is greater but because, it is out of the ordinary. Who is even now providing nourishment for the whole world if not the God Who creates a field of wheat from a few seeds? Christ did what God does. Just as God multiplies a few seeds into a whole field of wheat, so Christ multiplied the five loaves in His Hands. For there was power in the Hands of Christ. Those five loaves were like seeds, not because they were cast on the earth but because, they were multiplied by the One Who made the earth.

This miracle was presented to our senses, in order to stimulate our minds… and so make us marvel at “the God we do not see because of his works, which we do see” (Rom 1,20). For then, when we have been raised to the level of faith and purified by faith, we shall long to behold, although not with our eyes, the invisible God Whom we recognise, through what is visible. This miracle was performed for the multitude to see; it was recorded for us to hear. Faith does for us, what sight did for them. We behold with the mind, what our eyes cannot see and we are preferred to them because of us it was said: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe” (Jn 20,29).” – St Augustine (354-430) Father and Doctor of the Church (Homilies on Saint John’s gospel, 24).

PRAYER – Stay with us Lord Jesus, be our companion on our way. In Your mercy enflame our hearts and raise our hope, so that, in union with our brethren, we may share with each other Your food of life. Listen to the prayers of your Angels and Saints and as we entrust ourselves to the Blessed Virgin Mary, may she open our hearts to compassion and fraternal sharing. Through Your grace with God our Father and the Holy Ghost, forever and ever amen.

Posted in AUGUSTINIANS OSA, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, Quotes on SALVATION, QUOTES on SIN, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 26 March – Repent!

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Quote/s of the Day – 26 March – Saturday of the Third Week of Lent – Daniel 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62, John 8:1-11

“Go and from now on, sin no more”

John 8:11

“Prepare the way of the Lord
make his paths straight” …

Luke 3:4

“You do not know
when your last day may come.
You are an ingrate!
Why not use the day, today,
that God has given you
to repent?”

St Augustine (354-430)
Father & Doctor of Grace

“What are you afraid of, you men of little faith?
That He will not pardon your sins?
But with His own hands He has nailed them to the cross.
That you are used to soft living
and your tastes are fastidious?
But He knows the clay of which we are made (Gn 2:7).
That a prolonged habit of sinning binds you like a chain?
But the Lord loosens the shackles of prisoners.
Or perhaps that angered by the enormity
and frequency of your sins,
He is slow to extend a helping hand?
But where sin abounded,
grace became superabundant (Rom 5,20).
Are you worried about clothing
and food and other bodily necessities
so that you hesitate to give up your possessions?
But He knows that you need all these things (Mt 6,32).
What more can you wish?
What else is there to hold you back
from the way of salvation? ”

St Bernard (1091-1153)
Mellifluous Doctor of the Church

Posted in ACT of CONTRITION, AUGUSTINIANS OSA, DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, ONE Minute REFLECTION, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES on BAD CONVERSATION, QUOTES on JUSTICE, QUOTES on OBEDIENCE, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on TRUTH, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 26 March – “Go and from now on, sin no more” – John 8:11

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One Minute Reflection – 26 March – Saturday of the Third Week of Lent – Daniel 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62, John 8:1-11

“Go and from now on, sin no more” – John 8:11

REFLECTION – “One after another all withdrew.”
The two were left alone, the woman in need of mercy and Mercy.
But the Lord, having struck them through with that dart of justice, deigned not to heed their fall but, turning His eyes away from them, “again he wrote with his finger on the ground.”

But when that woman remained alone and all had gone, He raised His eyes to her. We have heard the voice of justice; let us listen too to the voice of clemency…
This woman expected to be punished by Him, in whom sin could not be found.
But He, who had driven back her adversaries with the voice of justice, lifting the eyes of mercy to her, asked her: “Has no-one condemned you?” She answered, “No-one, Lord.”
And He said: “Neither do I condemn you. I by Whom, perhaps, you were afraid of being condemned because you have found no sin in Me; neither do I condemn you.”

What is this, O Lord?
Do you favour sins, then?
Certainly not!
But take note of what follows: “Go, henceforth sin no more.”
The Lord did condemn, therefore but He condemned the sin, not the sinner… Let them be careful, then, those who love the goodness in the Lord but who fear His truthfulness…
The Lord is gracious, the Lord is slow to anger, the Lord is merciful BUT the Lord is also just and the Lord is abounding in truth (Ps 85[86],15).
He gives you time for amendment but you prefer to take advantage of the delay, rather than to reform your ways.
Did you act wickedly yesterday? Be good today. Have you spent today in evil? At any rate change your behaviour tomorrow.

This, then, is the meaning of the words He addresses to this woman, “Neither do I condemn you but, having been made secure concerning the past, be on your guard in the future. I, for My part, will not condemn you, I have blotted out what you have done; keep what I have commanded, that you may gain what I have promised.” – St Augustine (354-430) Bishop, Father, Doctor of Grace –Tractate 33 on the Gospel of John, 5-8

PRAYER – O Infinite Goodness – Act of Contrition
By St Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621) – Doctor of the Church

O my God,
I am exceedingly grieved,
for having offended Thee
and with my whole heart,
I repent of the sins I have committed.
I hate and abhor them above every other evil,
not only because, by so sinning,
I have lost heaven and deserved hell
but still more because I have offended Thee,
O infinite Goodness,
who art worthy to be loved above all things.
I most firmly resolve,
by the assistance of Thy grace,
never more to offend Thee for the time to come
and to avoid those occasions
which might lead me into sin.
Amen

Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2022, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on OBEDIENCE, QUOTES on the DEVIL/EVIL, The ANNUNCIATION, The INCARNATION, The WORD

Friday of the Third Week of Lent – 25 March – Our Lenten Journey with the Great Fathers – ‘ … By Obeying His Word …’

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Friday of the Third Week of Lent – 25 March – Our Lenten Journey with the Great Fathers – The Annunciation – Isaias 7:10-15, Luke 1:26-38

“Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.” – Luke 1:28,42

“And Mary said,
‘Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be to me according to your word.’”

Luke 1:38

“SO THE LORD NOW manifestly came to His own. Born by His own created order that He Himself bears, He by His obedience on the tree, renewed and reversed what was done by disobedience, in connection with a tree.

THE POWER of that seduction, by which the virgin Eve, already betrothed to a man, had been wickedly seduced, was broken when the Angel in truth brought good tidings to the Virgin Mary, who already, by her betrothal belonged to a man. For as Eve was seduced by the word of an Angel to flee from God, having rebelled against His Word, so Mary by the word of an Angel, received the glad tidings that she would bear God, by obeying His Word.

THE FORMER WAS SEDUCED to disobey God and so fell but the latter, was persuaded to obey God, so that the Virgin Mary might become the advocate of Eve.

AS THE HUMAN RACE was subjected to death through the act of a virgin, so was it saved by a virgin, was precisely balanced by the obedience of Another. Then indeed, the sin of the first formed man was amended by the chastisement of the First Begotten, the wisdom of the serpent was conquered by the simplicity of the dove and the chains were broken, by which we were in bondage to death.” – St Irenaeus (130-202) Bishop of Lyons, Martyr, Father of the Church (Against Heresies, 5)

Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, MARIAN POETRY, MARIAN QUOTES, Quotes on SALVATION, The ANNUNCIATION, The INCARNATION, The NATIVITY of JESUS, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 25 March – Blessed Shall be Her Name

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Quote/s of the Day – 25 March – The Annunciation – Isaias 7:10-15, Luke 1:26-38

“He Who is Infinite, Limitless,
came to dwell in your womb;
God, the Child Jesus,
was nourished by your milk.
You are the ever virginal Doorway of God;
your hands hold your God;
your lap is a throne raised up
above the Cherubim…
You are the wedding chamber of the Spirit,
the “city of the living God,
gladdened by the runlets of the stream,”
that is to say, the waves of the Spirit’s gifts.
You are “all fair, the Beloved” of God.”

St John Damascene (675-749)
Father and Doctor of the Church

“And Mary said,
‘Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be to me according to your word.’”

Luke 1:38

“The price of our salvation
is offered to you.
We shall be set free at once, if you consent.
In the eternal Word of God, we all came to be
and behold, we die.
In your brief response,
we are to be remade.
in order to be recalled to life.

… Answer quickly, O Virgin.
Reply in haste to the Angel,
or rather, through the Angel to the Lord.
Answer with a word,
receive the Word of God.
Speak your own word,
conceive the Divine Word.
Breathe a passing word,
embrace the Eternal Word!”

St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)
The Last Father and
the Mellifluous Doctor of the Church

Blessed Shall be Her Name
Anonymous Author

Praise we the Lord this day,
This day so long foretold,
Whose promise shone with cheering ray
On waiting saints of old.

The prophet gave the sign
That those with faith might read;
A Virgin, born of David’s line
Shall bear the promised Seed.

Ask not how this should be,
But worship and adore;
Like her whom Heaven’s majesty
Came down to shadow o’er.

She meekly bowed her head
To hear the gracious word,
Mary, the pure and lowly maid,
The favoured of the Lord.

Blessed shall be her name
In all the Church on earth,
Through whom that wondrous Mercy came,
The Incarnate Saviour’s Birth.

Jesus, the Virgin’s Son,
We praise You and adore,
Who are with God the Father One
And Spirit evermore.
Amen

Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DECEMBER - The DIVINE INFANCY and The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, FATHERS of the Church, Hail MARY!, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, ONE Minute REFLECTION, The ANNUNCIATION, The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, The INCARNATION, The MOST HOLY REDEEMER, Our SAVIOUR, The NATIVITY of the BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, The REDEMPTION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 25 March – The Annunciation – ‘ … Chosen from among all other beings …’

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One Minute Reflection – 25 March – The Annunciation – Isaias 7:10-15, Luke 1:26-38

“Hail, full of grace!” – Luke 1:28

REFLECTION – “The degeneration caused by sin had obscured the beauty of our original nobility. But when the mother of supreme Beauty is born, our nature finds its purity once more and sees itself moulded according to the perfect model, worthy of God (Gn 1,26)… We had all preferred the world below to that above. There no longer remained any hope of salvation. The state of our nature cried aloud to Heaven to come to the rescue… Then at last, in His good pleasure, the world’s Divine Artificer determined to make a new world appear, a different world full of harmony and youth.

Now was it not fitting, that a most pure virgin without stain, should place herself at the service of this mysterious plan first of all?… And where was this virgin to be found, if not in this woman, alone of her kind, chosen by the world’s Creator before all generations? Yes, she indeed is Mother of God, divinely named Mary, whose womb gave birth to God Incarnate and whom, He Himself had supernaturally prepared, as His Temple…

In this way, then, the design of the Redeemer of our race was to bring about a birth and, as it were, a new creation to replace the one that went before. Therefore, just as in Paradise, He had taken a litle clay out of the pure and spotless earth, to fashion the first Adam (Gn 2,7), so, at the moment of bringing about His Own Incarnation, He made use of another earth, so to speak, namely, this Pure and Immaculate Virgin, chosen from among all other beings He had created. It is in her that He, Adam’s Creator, has remade us in our very substance and become a new Adam (1Cor 15,45), that the old might be saved by the new and eternal.” – St Andrew of Crete (660-740) Bishop (Sermon 1 for the Nativity of the Mother of God ; PG 97, 812).

PRAYER – The Angelus
V. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.
R. And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.
Hail Mary, full of grace,
The Lord is with Thee;
Blessed art thou among women,
And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Pray for us sinners,
Now and at the hour of our death. Amen
V. Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
R. Be it done unto me according to thy word.
Hail Mary, etc.
V. And the Word was made Flesh.
R. And dwelt among us.
Hail Mary, etc.
V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
LET US PRAY
Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts, that we to whom the Incarnation of Christ Thy Son was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection. Through the same Christ Our Lord.
Amen

Posted in CARMELITES, DOCTORS of the Church, PRAYERS to the SAINTS, QUOTES on EVANGELISATION, The KINGDOM of GOD / HEAVEN, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 24 March – I must proclaim the kingdom of God

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Quote/s of the Day – 24 March – Thursday of the Third Week of Lent – Jeremias 7:1-7, Luke 4:38-44

“And the crowds were seeking after Him
and they came to Him
and tried to detain Him,
that He might not depart from them.
But He said to them,
To the other towns too
I must proclaim the kingdom of God,
for this is why I have been sent.”

Luke 4:42-43

“Christ has no body on earth but yours,
no hands but yours,
no feet but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which, the compassion of Christ, looks out to the world.
Yours are the feet,
with which, He is to go about doing good.
Yours are the hands,
with which, He is to bless others now.”

St Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)
Doctor of the Church

Great convert Teacher of the Faith
Who never ceased from preaching Christ,
Saint Paul impart to us your zeal,
That we may reach the joys unseen.

All glory to the Trinity,
Forever honour, sov’reignty,
To God Almighty be all praise,
Beginning and the End of all.
Amen

Posted in CHRIST the PHYSICIAN, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2022, QUOTES on the DEVIL/EVIL, The WORD

Thursday of the Third Week of Lent – 24 March – Our Lenten Journey with the Great Fathers – ‘… The sicknesses of the soul …’

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Thursday of the Third Week of Lent – 24 March – Our Lenten Journey with the Great Fathers – Jeremias 7:1-7, Luke 4:38-44

“The eyes of all look hopefully to You, O Lord,and You give them their food in due season. You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.” – Psalm 144:15-16

“Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him and he laid his hands on everyone of them and healed them. And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Christ.”

Luke 4:40-41

“BUT OBSERVE AGAIN, I pray, how great is the efficacy of the touch of His holy flesh. For It both drives away diseases, of various kinds and a crowd of demons and overthrows the power of the devil and heals a very great multitude of people, in one moment of time.
And although able to perform these miracles by a word and the inclination of His will, yet, to teach us something useful, He also lays His hands upon the sick.
For it was necessary, most necessary, for us to learn, that the holy flesh which He had made His own, was endowed with the activity of the power of the Word, by His having implanted in it, a godlike might.
Let It then take hold of us, or rather let us take hold of It, by the mystical “Giving of thanks,” that It may free us also from the sicknesses of the soul and from the assault and violence of demons.

HE WOULD NOT PERMIT the unclean demons to confess Him, for it was not fitting for them to usurp the glory of the Apostolic office, nor with impure tongue, to talk of the mystery of Christ.
Yea! although they speak ought that is true, let no-one put credence in them – for the light is not known by the aid of darkness, as the disciple of Christ teaches us, where he says, “For what communion hath light with darkness? or what consent hath Christ with Beliar?” – St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444) Father and Doctor of the Incarnation

Posted in ArchAngels and Angels, CHRIST the PHYSICIAN, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on ANGER, QUOTES on SIN, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 24 March – ‘The Chief Physician’

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One Minute Reflection – 24 Marcr – Thursday of the Third Week of Lent – Jeremias 7:1-7, Luke 4:38-44 and the Feast Dy of St Gabriel the Archangel

“At that time, Jesus rose from the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a great fever and they besought Him for her.” – Luke 4:38

REFLECTION – “Now Simon’s mother-in-law was kept in her bed sick with a fever.” May Christ come to our house and enter in and by His command, cure the fever of our sins. Each one of us is sick with a fever. Whenever I give way to anger, I have a fever. There are as many fevers as there are faults and vices. Let us beg the Apostles to intercede for us with Jesus, that He may come to us and touch our hand. If He does so, at once our fever is gone. He is an excellent Physician and truly the Chief Physician. Moses is a physician. Isaias is a physician. All the Saints are physicians but He is the Chief Physician.” – St Jerome (343-420) Father & Doctor of the Church (Homilies on the Gospel of Mark 75).

PRAYER – O God, Who, out of all the Angels, chose the Archangel Gabriel to announce the mystery of Your Incarnation, mercifully grant that we, who keep his feast on earth, may have him as our patron in Heaven. Who lives and reigns with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on KINDNESS, The WORD

Thought for the Day – 23 March – The Christian Formation of Character

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Thought for the Day – 23 March – Meditations with
Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

The Christian Formation of Character

“When Jesus offered Himself as our Divine Model, He used these words, “Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart” (Mt 11:29).
Humility and gentleness are essential attributes of the Christian character.
Whoever does not succeed in acquiring them is bulding upon sand!
He will be a torment to others as well as to himself.
Jesus indicates this also, for after He has said: “Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart,” He adds, “and you will find rest for your souls” (Ibid).
In other words, He tells us, that it is only on this condition that we shall find spiritual peace.
When we have modelled our character on His humility and gentleness, we shall be inflamed with the love of God and of our neighbour.
Only then shall we have succeeded in acquiring a character which is genuinely and deeply Christian.”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

PART ONE:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/03/23/thought-for-the-day-23-march-the-christian-formation-of-character/
PART TWO:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/03/02/thought-for-the-day-23-march-the-christian-formation-of-character-2/

Posted in AUGUSTINIANS OSA, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, QUOTES on COWARDICE, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on the DEVIL/EVIL, QUOTES on THE WORLD, The HEART, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 23 March – But the things that proceedout of the mouth …

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Quote/s of the Day – 23 March – Wednesday day of the Third Week of Lent – Exodus 20:12-24, Matthew 15:1-20

“But the things that proceed
out of the mouth,
come from the heart
and it is they that defile a man.”

Matthew 15:18

“The sky and the earth and the waters
and the things that are in them, the fishes
and the birds and the trees are not evil.
All these are good;
it is evil men who make this evil world.”

“What is reprehensible,
is that while leading good lives themselves
and abhorring those of wicked men,
some, fearing to offend,
shut their eyes to evil deeds
instead of condemning them
and pointing out their malice.”

St Augustine (354-407)
Father and Doctor of Grace

Posted in 7 GIFTS of the HOLY GHOST: Wisdom, Understanding, Prudence, Strength, Knowledge, Piety, Fear, AUGUSTINIANS OSA, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, FRUITS of the SPIRIT, GOD the FATHER, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on SACRED SCRIPTURE, The HEART, The HOLY GHOST, The TEN COMMANDMENTS, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 23 March – ‘But why did the first Law, written with the Finger of God (Ex 31:18), not give us the essential assistance of grace?’ – St Augustine

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One Minute Reflection – 23 March – Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent – Exodus 20:12-24, Matthew 15:1-20

“Hypocrites, well did Isaias prophesy of you, saying, ‘This people honours me with their lips but their heart is far from Me and in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrine, the precepts of men.’ ” – Matthew 15:7

REFLECTION – “The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed you from the law of sin and death” (Rm 8:2) … Saint Paul says that the Law of Moses has been given to prove our weakness and not just to prove it but, to increase it and thus force us to find the Doctor. … “Where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more” (Rm 5:20; cf. 3:20) … But why did the first Law, written with the Finger of God (Ex 31:18), not give us the essential assistance of grace? Because it was written on tablets of stone, not the tablets of flesh, that are our hearts (2 Cor 3:3) ….

It is the Holy Spirit Who writes “the Law of the Spirit of life” not on stone but in the heart; this Law of the Spirit of life that is in Jesus Christ in Whom the Passover has been celebrated in truth (1 Cor 5:7-8), has delivered you from the law of sin and death. Do you want to have proof of the manifest and certain difference separating the Old Testament from the New? … Hear what the Lord spoke by the mouth of one of the prophets. … ”I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts” (Jr 31:33). So if God’s Law is written in your heart, it does not bring forth fear [as at Sinai] but pours a secret sweetness into your soul.” – St Augustine (354-430) Bishop of Hippo, Father and Doctor of the Church (Sermon 155, 6 ).

PRAYER – Breathe in Me, O Holy Spirit By St Augustine (354-420)

Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit,
that my thoughts may all be holy.
Act in me, O Holy Spirit,
that my work, too, may be holy.
Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit,
that I love but what is holy.
Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit,
to defend all that is holy.
Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit,
that I always may be holy.
Amen

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, QUOTES on FORGIVENESS, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The LORD'S PRAYER, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 22 March – Forgive!

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Quote/s of the Day – 22 March – Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent – 4 Kings 4:1-7, Matthew 18:15-22

“Then Peter came up and said to him,
“Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me
and I forgive him?
As many as seven times?”
Jesus said to him,
“I do not say to you seven times
but seventy times seven.”

Matthew 18:21-22

“Go first and be reconciled
with your brother”

Matthew 5:24

“Forgive and you will be forgiven.”

Luke 6:37

“This is what I proclaim, what I testify,
what I cry out with a resounding voice:
Let no-one who has an enemy,
draw near the holy table,
to receive the Body of the Lord!
Let no-one who does approach it,
have an enemy!
Do you have an enemy?
Do not come near!
If you want to do so,
then first go and be reconciled,
then receive the Sacrament.”

St John Chrysostom (347-407)
Father and Doctor of the Church

“Someone who shows no clemency,
who is not clothed with the bowels of mercy and tears,
no matter what sort of student he is in spirituality,
such a one, does not fulfil the law of Christ.”

St Jerome (347-420)
Father & Doctor of the Church

“See to it that you refrain from harsh words.
But if you do speak them,
do not be ashamed to apply the remedy
from the same lips, that inflicted the wounds.”

St Francis of Paola OM (1416-1507)

“If a man finds it very difficult to forgive injuries,
let him look at a Crucifix
and think that Christ shed all His Blood for him
and not only forgave His enemies
but, even prayed His Heavenly Father,
to forgive them also.
Let him remember,
that when he says the Pater Noster, everyday,
instead of asking pardon for his sins,
he is calling down VENGEANCE UPON HIMSELF!”

St Philip Neri (1515-1595)

Posted in CHRIST the LIGHT, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, FATHERS of the Church, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on FORGIVENESS, QUOTES on PEACE, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 22 March – – Forgive and be at peace

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One Minute Reflection – 22 March – Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent – 4 Kings 4:1-7, Matthew 18:15-22 – “The Month of St Joseph”

“Then Peter came up to him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times but seventy times seven.” – Matthew 18:21-22

REFLECTION – “He is our peace, for He has made both one. Since we think of Christ as our peace, we may call ourselves true Christians, only if our lives express Christ by our own peace. As the Apostle says: He has put enmity to death. We must never allow it to be rekindled in us in any way but, must declare, that it is absolutely dead. Gloriously has God slain enmity, in order to save us, may we never risk the life of our souls by being resentful or by bearing grudges. …

No, since we possess Christ who is peace, we must put an end to this enmity and live as we believe He lived. He broke down the separating wall, uniting what was divided, bringing about peace by reconciling in His single person, those who disagreed. In the same way, we must be reconciled not only with those who attack us from outside but also with those who stir up dissension within; flesh then will no longer be opposed to the spirit, nor the spirit to the flesh. Once we subject the wisdom of the flesh to God’s law, we shall be re-created as one single man, at peace. Then, having become one instead of two, we shall have peace within ourselves.

Now peace is defined as harmony among those who are divided. When, therefore, we end that civil war within our nature and cultivate peace within ourselves, we become peace. By this peace we demonstrate that the name of Christ, which we bear, is authentic and appropriate.

When we consider that Christ is the true light, having nothing in common with deceit, we learn that our own life also must shine with the rays of that true light. Now these rays of the Sun of Justice are the virtues which pour out to enlighten us so that we may put away the works of darkness and walk honourably as in broad daylight. When we reject the deeds of darkness and do everything in the light of day, we become light and, as light should, we give light to others by our actions. If we truly think of Christ as our source of holiness, we shall refrain from anything wicked or impure in thought or act and thus show ourselves to be worthy bearers of His Name. For the quality of holiness is shown, not by what we say but by what we do in life.” – St Gregory of Nyssa (c 335–C 395) – Bishop and Father of the Church (Excerpt from his treatise, On Christian Perfection).

PRAYER – Holy God, grant we pray, Your Holy Spirit of love and divine grace to grow ever more in faith and love. . By our prayers and love for You and our neighbour, may we merit Your divine assistance. Lord Jesus, help us to dwell often on the manner in which we are following You. Let us strive each day to become more and more like You in all things and, to become beacons of Your Light, to all the world. Holy Mother of God, pray for us, St Joseph pray for us. Through Christ, Our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, now and forevermore. Amen

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2022, LENTEN PRAYERS & NOVENAS, QUOTES on ALMS, Quotes on SALVATION, The WORD

Monday of the Third Week of Lent – 21 March – Our Lenten Journey with the Great Fathers – ‘ Are we going to neglect our own salvation? … ‘

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Monday of the Third Week of Lent – 21 March – Our Lenten Journey with the Great Fathers – 4 Kings, 5:1-15, Luke 4:23-30

“O God, my wanderings You have counted; my tears are recorded in Your sight.” – Psalm 55:9

“There were many widows in Israel”

Luke 4:25

THE WIDOW OF SAREPTA welcomes the prophet Elijah with every generosity and expends all her poverty in his honour, even though she is a Sidonian foreigner. She had never heard what the prophets have to say about the merits of almsgiving, let alone the words of Christ: “You saw me hungry and gave me food” (Mt 25:35).

WHAT EXCUSE DO WE HAVE if, after such exhortations, after the promise of such great rewards, after the promise of the Kingdom of Heaven and its happiness, we fail to reach the same level of goodness as this widow? A Sidonian woman, a widow, burdened with the care of a family, threatened by famine and seeing the advent of death, opens her door to welcome an unknown man and gives him the scrap of meal she has left …

YET WE, WHO HAVE been taught by the prophets, have heard the teachings of Christ, have the opportunity of meditating on what is to come, who are not threatened by famine and who own a great deal more that this woman, are we to be excused if we dare not lay a finger on our goods to give of them? Are we going to neglect our own salvation? …

SO THEN, LET US SHOW GREAT compassion towards the poor so as to be made worthy of possessing good things to come for all eternity, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ.” – St John Chrysostom (347-407) Bishop of Constantinople, Great Father and Doctor of the Church (Sermon on Elijah and the widow and almsgiving; PG 51, 348).

Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, GOD ALONE!, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on GOOD WORKS, QUOTES on HELL, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on OBEDIENCE, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 21 March – St Benedict

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Quote/s of the Day – 21 March – Monday of the Third Week of Lent – The Memorial of St Benedict OSB (c 480-547)

“Girded with faith
and the performance of good works,
let us follow in His paths
by the guidance of the Gospel.”

“There exists an evil fervour,
a bitter spirit, which divides us from God
and leads us to hell.
Similarly, there is a good fervour,
which sets us apart from evil inclinations
and leads us toward God and eternal life.”

“For at all times, we must so serve Him,
with the good things He has given us,
that he may not, as an angry Father,
disinherit his children,
nor as a dread Lord,
provoked by our evil deeds,
deliver us to everlasting punishment,
as wicked servants,
who refuse to follow Him to glory.”

“The first degree of humility,
is prompt obedience.”

MORE:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/07/11/quote-s-of-the-day-11-july-st-benedict-2/

St Benedict (c 480-547)

Posted in CHRIST the LIGHT, GOD ALONE!, ONE Minute REFLECTION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 21 March – ‘… Towards You, then, Lord, are all things turned…’

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 21 March – Monday of the Third Week of Lent – 4 Kings, 5:1-15, Luke 4:23-30 and the Memorial of St Benedict OSB (c 480-547)

“There were many widows in Israel” – Luke 4:25

REFLECTION – “My wretched soul is naked and cold and benumbed, it longs to warm itself at the fIre of Your love… Out of my wide wilderness and the great emptiness of my heart, I have collected only these few tiny twigs like the widow of Sarepta; so that,, when I do come to the tabernacle of my house, I may have a handful of flour and a vessel of oil to eat before I die (1Kgs 17,10f.). Or maybe, Lord, I shall not die as quickly as all that! It may be rather that “I shall not die at al, but live, and declare the works of the Lord” (Ps 117[118],17).

So I stand in the house of solitude… I open my mouth in Your direction, Lord; I breathe in the Spirit. And sometimes, Lord,… You do put something in my heart’s mouth but You do not permit me to know just what it is. A savour I perceive, so sweet, so gracious, and so comforting that… I should seek nothing more. But when I receive this thing, neither by bodily sight, nor by spiritual sense, nor by understanding of the mind, do You allow me to discern what it is. When I receive it, then I want to keep it, and think about it and assess its flavour but forthwith, it has gone… But every time this happens I hear the Lord say to me: “The Spirit blows whither he will. ” And I know, even in myself, that He breathes not, when I will but when He Himself wills…

I know that it is to You alone, O Fount of Life, that I must lift up my eyes, that “in your light I may see light” (Ps 35:10). Towards You, then, Lord, are all things turned… But in the meantime, Lord, how much longer are You going to put me off? How often must my wretched, harassed, gasping soul trail after You? “Hide me,” I beseech you, “in the secret place of Your Face away from the troubles of men, protect me in Your tabernacle from the strife of congues!” (Ps 30[31],21).” – William of Saint-Thierry (c 1085-1148) Cistercian Monk, Theologian (The Contemplation of God 12).

PRAYER – O Lord, we beseech You, in Your mercy, pour forth Your grace into our hearts, that, as we abstain from material food, so may we restrain our senses from sin. May the intercession of the blessed Abbot Benedict, commend us to You, O Lord, so that through his merits we may obtain that which we cannot accomplish by our own. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in CHRIST the JUDGE, CHRIST the KING, CHRIST the LIGHT, CHRIST the PHYSICIAN, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the BRIDEGROOM, LENT 2022, LENTEN THOUGHTS, QUOTES for CHRIST, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on TRUTH, QUOTES on WILL (Reasonable or Superior), The HEART, The WORD

The Third Sunday of Lent – 20 March – Our Lenten Journey with the Great Fathers – ‘The will is drawn also by love. ‘

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The Third Sunday of Lent – 20 March – Ou4 Lenten Journey with the Great Fathers – Ephesians 5:1-9, Luke 11:14-28

“My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for He will free my feet from the snare. Look toward me and have pity on me, for I am alone and afflicted.” – Psalm 24:15-16

“He who is not with Me,
is against Me
and he who does not gather
with Me scatters.”

Luke 11:23

“NO-ONE COMES TO ME unless the Father draws him. Do not think that you are drawn against your will – the will is drawn also by love. We must not be afraid of men who weigh words but are far from understanding what belongs above all to Divine Truth. They may find fault with this passage of Scripture and say to us: “How can I believe of my own free will if I am drawn to believe?” I answer: “It is not enough that you are moved by the will, for you are drawn also by desire.”

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN, to be drawn by desire? Take delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. The heart has its own desires; it takes delight, for example, in the bread from heaven. The poet could say: “Everyone is drawn by his own desire,” not by necessity but by desire, not by compulsion but by pleasure. We can say then with greater force, that one who finds pleasure in Truth, in Happiness, in Justice, in Everlasting Life, is drawn to Christ, for Christ is all these things.

ARE OUR BOIDLY SENSES to have their desires but not the will? If the will does not have its desires, how can Scripture say: The children of men will find their hope under the shadow of your wings, they will drink their fill from the plenty of your house and you will give them drink from the running stream of your delights, for with you is the fountain of life, and in your light we shall see light.

SHOW ME ONE WHO LOVES; he knows what I mean. Show me one who is full of longing, one who is hungry, one who is a pilgrim and suffering from thirst in the desert of this world, eager for the fountain in the homeland of eternity; show me someone like that and he knows what I mean. But if I speak to someone without feeling, he does not understand what I am saying.

YOU HAVE ONLY to show a leafy branch to a sheep and it is drawn to it. If you show nuts to a boy, he is drawn to them. He runs to them because he is drawn, drawn by love, drawn without any physical compulsion, drawn by a chain attached to his heart. “Everyone is drawn by his own desire. ” This is a true saying and earthly delights and pleasures, set before those who love them, succeed in drawing them. If this is so, are we to say that Christ, revealed and set before us by the Father, does not draw us? What does the soul desire more than truth? Why then does the soul have hungry jaws, a spiritual palate as it were, sensitive enough to judge the truth, if not in order to eat and drink Wisdom, Justice, Truth, Eternal Life?

BLESSED ARE THOSE who hunger and thirst for justice, that is, here on earth. They shall be satisfied, that is, in Heaven. Christ says: I give each what he loves, I give each the object of his hope; he will see what he believed in, though without seeing it. What he now hungers for, he will eat; what he now thirsts for, he will drink to the full. When? At the resurrection of the dead, for I will raise him up on the last day.” – St Augustine (354-430) Bishop of Hippo, Great Western Father and Doctor of Grace of the Church (An excerpt from his Treatise 26).

Posted in CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on GOOD WORKS, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on the CHURCH, QUOTES on TRUTH, The WORD, Thomas a Kempis

Quote/s of the Day – 20 March – “Whoever does not gatherwith me, scatters.” – Luke 11:23

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 20 March – The Third Sunday of Lent – Ephesians 5:1-9, Luke 11:14-28

“Whoever does not gather
with me, scatters.”

Luke 11:23

“We recognise a tree by its fruit
and we ought to be able to recognise
a Christian by his action.
The fruit of faith
should be evident in our lives,
for being a Christian,
is more than making
sound professions of faith.
It should reveal itself
in practical and visible ways.
Indeed, it is better to keep quiet
about our beliefs
and live them out,
than to talk eloquently
about what we believe
but fail, to live by it.”

St Ignatius of Antioch (c 35-c 108)
Father of the Church

The waters have risen
and severe storms are upon us
but we do not fear drowning,
for we stand firmly upon a rock.
Let the sea rage,
it cannot break the rock.”
Let the waves rise,
they cannot sink the Boat of Jesus.”

St John Chrysostom (347-407)
Father and Doctor of the Church

“Without the Way, there is no going,
Without the Truth, there is no knowing,
Without the Life, there is no living.”

Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)