Sunday Reflection – 25 February 2018 – Second Sunday of Lent, Year B
Referring to the Emmaus event, Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890) reminded his congregation:
“Only by faith is He known to be present; He is not recognised by sight. When He opened his disciples’ eyes, He at once vanished. He removed his visible presence and left but a memorial of Himself. He vanished from sight that He might be present in a sacrament; and in order to connect His visible presence to His presence invisible, He for one instant manifested Himself to their open eyes; manifested Himself, if I may so speak, while He passed from His hiding place of sight without knowledge, to that of knowledge without sight.”
What He left to the disciples in Emmaus is what He left to us: His memorial and more than that: His living presence spiritually in the Church and – through the Holy Spirit – in each of its members through baptism and His Real Presence, communion with Himself, the living God and man in the Blessed Eucharist and in the Christians who have just received Him in the Blessed Eucharist and adore Him in this Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. Christ’s real presence is given to each communicant in a most personal and if accepted with a sincere and humble heart, transforming way. With Newman’s own words:
“Christ then took on our nature, when He would redeem it; He redeemed it by making it suffer in His own Person; He purified it, by making it pure in His own Person. He first sanctified it in Himself, made it righteous, made it acceptable to God, submitted it to an expiatory passion and then He imparted it to us. He took it, consecrated it, broke it and said, “Take, and divide it among your-selves.”
Newman was convinced that no one “realises the mystery of the Incarnation but must feel disposed towards that of the Holy Communion.” Both are mysteries of the coming of Christ, longed for as the hope of mankind for salvation. If we accept that God unites Himself, His divinity and His spirit, to humanity, nature and matter in His birth as man, then we can also accept that He binds His presence to the species of bread and wine. When Jesus says, “This is my body, this is my blood”, this remains a mystery but our faith in it is not against our reason.
Years later this Catholic priest wrote:
“O wisest love! That flesh and blood Which did in Adam fail, Should strive afresh against the foe, Should strive and should prevail.” “And that a higher gift than grace Should flesh and blood refine, God’s presence and His very Self, And Essence all-divine.”
Our Morning Offering – 25 February 2018 – The Second Sunday of Lent, Year B
I Place myself in Your Presence (Prayer before Holy Mass or at Eucharistic Adoration)
Bl John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
I place myself
in the presence of Him
in whose Incarnate Presence
I am before
I place myself there.
I adore You, O my Saviour,
present here as God and Man,
in soul and body,
in true flesh and blood.
I acknowledge and confess,
that I kneel before
that Sacred Humanity,
which was conceived
in Mary’s womb
and lay on Mary’s bosom,
which grew up to man’s estate
and by the Sea of Galilee
called the Twelve,
wrought miracles
and spoke words of wisdom
and peace.
Which, in due season
hung on the Cross,
lay in the tomb,
rose from the dead
and now reigns in heaven.
I praise and bless and give myself
wholly to Him,
who is the true Bread of my soul
and my everlasting joy.
Amen
23 February 2018 – Friday of the First Week of Lent – The Memorial of St Polycarp (c 69 – c 155) Martyr and Apostolic Father of the Church
Ezekiel 18:21-28, Psalms 130:1-8, Matthew 5:20-26
Ezekiel 18:21-22 – “But if a wicked man turns away from all his sins which he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness which he has done he shall live.”
Matthew 5:20 – “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Who wants to enter the Kingdom of Heaven? Certainly all of us do! That should be our primary goal in life. And, along with that goal, we should seek to bring as many people with us as possible.
Too often we fail to see this as an ultimate goal in life. We fail to keep our eyes on Heaven as the primary reason we are here on Earth. It’s very easy to get caught up in the day-to-day satisfactions of what we may call the “mini goals” of life. These are goals such as entertainment, money, success, and the like. And we can often make these mini goals our only goals at times.
So how about you? What is your goal? What is it you strive for and seek throughout your day? If you honestly examine your actions throughout each day you may be surprised that you are actually seeking unimportant and passing mini goals more than you realize.
Jesus gives us one bit of clear direction in this passage above on how to attain that ultimate goal of life – the Kingdom of Heaven. The path He points to is righteousness.
What is righteousness? It’s simply being real. Being authentic. Not fake. And most especially, it’s being real in our love of God. The Pharisees struggled with pretending they were holy and good followers of the will of God. But they were not very good at it. They may have been good at the acting job, and they may have convinced themselves and others, but they could not fool Jesus. Jesus could see through the fake veneer and perceive that which was underneath. He could see that their “righteousness” was only a show for themselves and others.
And a great part of this, is our relationship with our neighbour – with everyone we come into contact with! This is not easy – “whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift.” So we have been told – this is as clear as daylight – there can be no desenting or pretending – go and do it!
Reflect, today, upon your own righteousness – your honesty and sincerity in striving for holiness. If you want to daily keep Heaven as your ultimate goal, then you must also strive to make each daily mini goal an honest attempt at holiness. We must daily seek Christ with all sincerity and truth in all the small things of life. We must then let that sincerity shine through, showing what truly lies beneath. To be righteous, in the truest sense, means we sincerely seek God throughout our day and make that sincerity the constant goal of our life.
Is there someone I need to make peace with?
Pray for the grace of forgiveness and reconciliation.
Am I keeping my eyes on my ultimate goal or do I allow this daily life to become the goal?
Fr Nicholas King S.J.
Learn the kindness of the Crucified. His enemies said, “His blood be upon us and upon our children.” Not so Christ, but supplicating the Father, He said: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” For if His blood had indeed fallen upon them and upon their children, the apostles would not have been made out of their children, neither three thousand nor five thousand would have believed on the spot. See how barbarous and cruel those were towards their descendants – they ignored even nature itself, while God was more loving than all the fathers put together, and tenderer than any mother.
He did not at once let the chastisement and penalty fall upon them, but He allowed forty years and more to pass after the cross. Our Lord Himself was crucified under Tiberius, and their city was destroyed under Vespasian and Titus. Now why did He allow so long a time to elapse after all these things? Because He wished to give them time for repentance, so that they might put off their impieties and be quit of their crimes. As, having a respite for conversion, they remained in their impenitence, He at last inflicted punishment upon them, and destroying their city, sent them out wanderers over the, face of the earth. And this He did through love. He dispersed them that they might everywhere see that Christ whom they had crucified adored, and that seeing Him adored by all they might learn His power and acknowledge their own exceeding wickedness, and in acknowledging might come to the truth….St John Chrysostom
Support us all the Day Long Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
O Lord, support us all the day long of this troublous life, until the shades lengthen and the evening comes and the busy world is hushed, the fever of life is over and our work is done. Then, Lord, in Your mercy, grant us a safe lodging, a holy rest and peace at the last, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Our Morning Offering – 21 February – Wednesday of the First Week of Lent
The Grace of Thy Love By Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
O My God,
strengthen me with Thy strength,
console me with Thy everlasting peace,
soothe me with the beauty of Thy countenance,
enlighten me with Thy uncreated holiness.
Bathe me in Thyself
and give me to drink,
as far as mortal man may ask,
of the rivers of grace
which flow from the Father and the Son,
the grace of Thy consubstantial,
co-eternal Love.
Amen
Thought for the Day – 20 February 2018 – Tuesday of the First Week of Lent
Excerpt from “Behold the Man”, a Lenten Reflection
By Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890)
“I see the figure of a man, whether young or old I cannot tell. He may be fifty, or he may be thirty. Sometimes He looks one, sometimes the other. There is something inexpressible about His face that I cannot solve. Perhaps, as He bears all burdens, He bears that of old age too. But so it is; His face is at once most venerable, yet most childlike, most calm, most sweet, most modest, beaming with sanctity and with loving kindness. His eyes rivet me and move my heart. His breath is all fragrant and transports me out of myself. Oh, I will look upon that face forever and will not cease.
And I see suddenly someone come to Him and raise His hand and sharply strike Him on that heavenly face. It is a hard hand, the hand of a rude man and perhaps has iron upon it. It could not be so sudden as to take by surprise, Him who knows all things past and future and He shows no sign of resentment, remaining calm and grave as before; but the expression of His face is marred; a great welt arises and in a short time that all-gracious face is hidden from me by the effects of this indignity, as if a cloud came over it.
A hand was lifted up against the face of Christ.
Whose hand was that? My conscience tells me: ‘You are the man.’
I trust it is not so with me now. But, O my soul, contemplate the awful fact. Fancy Christ before you and fancy yourself lifting up your hand and striking Him! You will say, ‘It is impossible: I could not do so.’ Yes, you have done so.When you sinned wilfully, then you have done so. He is beyond pain now: still you have struck Him and had it been in the days of His flesh, He would have felt pain. Turn back in memory and recollect the time, the day, the hour, when by wilful mortal sin, by scoffing at sacred things, or by profaneness, or by hard hatred of your brother, or by acts of impurity, or by deliberate rejection of God’s voice, or in any other devilish way known to you, you have struck the All-Holy One.”(to be continued…………….)
NOTE of Interest: A second miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed John Henry (2016) is still in progress of investigation by the Congregation for the Causes of Sainthood and if Vatican theologians and doctors conclude the healing is a divine sign of Newman’s sanctity the Pope will be invited to canonise him as the first English saint since 1970 and the first British saint since 1976.
Prayer for the Canonisation of Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
God our Father, You granted to Your servant, Blessed John Henry Newman, wonderful gifts of nature and of grace, that he should be a spiritual light in the darkness of this world, an eloquent herald of the Gospel and a devoted servant of the one Church of Christ. With confidence in his heavenly intercession, we make the following petition: …………………………………………. [here make your petition] For his insight into the mysteries of the kingdom, his zealous defense of the teachings of the Church and his priestly love for each of Your children, we pray that he may soon be numbered among the Saints. We ask this through Christ our Lord, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever. Amen
Our Morning Offering – 20 February 2018 – Tuesday of the First Week of Lent
Thy Grace – a Lenten Prayer By Blessed John Henry Newman
O my God,
suffer me still,
bear with me in spite of my
waywardness,
perverseness
and ingratitude!
I improve very slowly
but really, I am moving onto heaven,
or at least I wish to move.
Only give me Thy grace
meet me with Thy grace,
I will, through Thy grace, do what I can
and Thou shall perfect it for me.
Then shall I have happy days, in Thy Presence
and in the sight and adoration of
Thy five Sacred Wounds.
Amen
O make my heart beat with Your Heart! By Bl Cardinal John Henry Newman
Most Sacred,
most loving Heart of Jesus,
You are concealed in the Holy Eucharist,
And You beat for us still.
Now, as then, You say:
“With desire I have desired.”
I worship You
with all my best love and awe,
With fervent affection,
With my most subdued,
most resolved will.
For a while, You take up Your abode within me.
O make my heart beat with Your Heart!
Purify it of all that is earthly,
All that is proud and sensual,
All that is hard and cruel,
Of all perversity,
Of all disorder,
Of all deadness.
So fill it with You,
That neither the events of the day,
Nor the circumstances of the time,
May have the power to ruffle it;
But that in Your love and Your fear,
It may have peace. Amen
Radiating Christ By Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
Dear Jesus,
help me to spread Your fragrance wherever I go.
Flood my soul with Your spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly,
that my life may only be a radiance of Yours.
Shine through me and be so in me,
that every soul I come in contact with
may feel Your presence in my soul.
Let them look up and see no longer me
but only Jesus!
Stay with me
and then I shall begin to shine as You shine,
so to shine as to be a light to others.
The light, O Jesus, will be all from You,
none of it will be mine.
It will be You, shining on others through me.
Let me thus praise You the way You love best,
by shining on those around me.
Let me preach You without preaching,
not by words but by my example,
by the catching force of the sympathetic influence of what I do,
the evident fullness of the love my heart bears to You.
Amen.
Note: the Prayer above has become known as the prayer of St Mother Teresa but it was written by Blessed John Henry and adopted by St Mother Teresa and her Sisters of Charity and is recited daily by them. It is sometimes called the “Fragrance” Prayer.
And today, as Christmastide has gone and we race onward to “radiate Christ” let us pray too, to this beautiful Poem, “When the Song of the Angels is Stilled.”
When the Song of the Angels Is Stilled Poem by Howard Thurman (1899-1981)
When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and the princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flocks,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among people,
To make music in the heart.
Sunday Reflection – 7 January 2018 – The Feast of Epiphany
Each Sunday towards the end of Mass, we come to the altar rail, receive Holy Communion, return to our seats and sit or kneel quietly for a while in contemplation. But in these quiet moments after we have received Communion, what prayers do we offer up? Perhaps we don’t pray at all but in those quiet moments our thoughts turn to other things, like Sunday lunch or a planned visit to visit the grandchildren after Mass.
I recently came across this wonderful article, written by a priest. He writes:
“A few years ago it became evident to me that my prayers after distributing Holy Communion to my congregation were wholly inadequate. As I sat on my seat on the altar I was finding it extremely difficult to express into words, what this moment meant to me. Looking through my book collection I read all the prayers I could get my hands on but none seemed to be what I was looking for, so I gave up in frustration. However, each day I would pray to Mary our Blessed Mother asking her to teach me how to express my innermost feelings to the Lord. Sometime later I was preaching a retreat to a group of nuns when one of the elderly nuns came to visit me and said she felt she had a problem concerning her prayers after receiving Holy Communion. Feeling I had at last found a kindred spirit, I asked her what she usually prayed and she replied, ‘I don’t pray anything, I just sit in silence and allow Him to love me and to teach me to love Him.’ At that moment I realised that Mary had indeed answered my prayers.
“I just sit in silence and allow Him to love me and to teach me to love Him.”
What a simple, but moving description of what this moment means to us all.
“Above all, let us pray Him to draw us to Him and to give us faith. When we feel that His mysteries are too severe for us and occasion us to doubt, let us earnestly wait on Him for the gift of humility and love. Those who love and who are humble will apprehend them, carnal minds do not seek the and proud minds are offended at them but while love desires them, humility sustains them.
Let us pray Him to give us an earnest longing after Him – a thirst for His presence – an anxiety to find Him – a joy on hearing that He is to be found, even now, under the veil of sensible things – and a good hope that we shall find Him there.
Blessed indeed are they who have not seen and yet have believed. They have their reward in believing, they enjoy the contemplation of a mysterious blessing, which does not even enter into the thoughts of other men and while they are more blessed than others, in the gift vouchsafed to them, they have the additional privilege of knowing that they are vouchsafed it.”….Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890) – Parochial & Plain Sermons, Vol. VI, no. 11
Quote of the Day – 10 December – The Memorial of Our Lady and the Holy House of Loreto
“I went to Loreto with a simple faith, believing what I still believe, even more so after having seen. Now I no longer have any doubts. If you ask me why I believe it, it is because everyone believes it in Rome— cautious and skeptical as they are in many other things. I believe it, as I believe that there is a planet called Neptune, or that chloroform destroys the sense of pain. I have no prior difficulties on this point.”
“It was thought that St Maximilian Kolbe never visited Loreto. Our Lady, however, always manages to bring to what was her hom, while on earth, those who revere and venerate her in a special way. It comes as no surprise, then, to learn from the Mass register of the Basilica, that he participated in a Mass along with thirty priests from Yugoslavia on 13 July 1919. The following day, the feast of the Franciscan theologian St Bonaventure, he celebrated Mass within the Holy house itself. And so another name, a modem day Saint, has been added to the list of Saints and holy persons who have visited the shrine of Loreto. Undoubtedly there will be many more as time goes on, paying their respects and drawing inspiration from the holiest House in this world. ”
Blessed Cardinal Henry John Newman – written in 1848 and 1884
I am His; I am yours, my good Mother! By Blessed John Henry Newman
O Mother of Jesus
and my Mother, let me dwell with you,
cling to you and love you with ever-increasing love.
I promise the honour, love and trust of a child.
Give me a mother’s protection,
for I need your watchful care.
You know better than any other,
the thoughts and desires of the Sacred Heart.
Keep constantly before my mind,
the same thoughts, the same desires,
that my heart may be filled with zeal
for the interests of the
Sacred Heart of your Divine Son.
Instill in me a love of all that is noble,
that I may no longer be easily turned to selfishness.
Help me, dearest Mother,
to acquire the virtues that God wants of me:
to forget myself always, to work solely for Him,
without fear of sacrifice.
I shall always rely on your help to be,
what Jesus wants me to be.
I am His; I am yours, my good Mother!
Give me each day your holy and maternal blessing,
until my last evening on earth,
when your Immaculate Heart will present me,
to the heart of Jesus in heaven,
there to love and bless you
and your divine Son for all eternity. Amen
A Moment of Joy! – – 9 October – The Memorial of Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890) -Vatican investigates second ‘miracle’ attributed to Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
English bishops say the progress of his Cause is a source of ‘great joy’.
Beatification by Pope Benedict XVI
The Archbishop of Birmingham has welcomed reports that the Vatican is investigating a possible second “miracle” which may lead to the canonisation of Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman. Archbishop Bernard Longley said it was a “great joy” to know that the Cause was making progress. He said the occasion should also spur on Catholics to renew their prayers for the canonisation of Blessed Dominic Barberi, who received Newman into the Catholic faith from the Church of England.
“Blessed Cardinal Newman has left an extraordinarily rich spiritual legacy – not least through the two Oratory communities in Birmingham and Oxford – as well as to the Church nationally and internationally,” Archbishop Longley said. “It would be a great joy to see him take a step closer to being named among the saints and would be an encouragement to all who have been inspired by him seek the truth by seeking Christ.
“At the same time, and especially during this Jubilee Year of Mercy, I am sure that Blessed John Henry Newman would want us to continue praying for the canonisation of Blessed Dominic Barberi, the Passionist priest who first enabled him to receive the Sacrament of mercy at his reception into full communion with the Catholic Church at Littlemore in 1845 and who gave him a new insight into the merciful love of God.”
The archbishop spoke after the Tablet, a Catholic weekly magazine, revealed that the Archdiocese of Chicago had investigated the inexplicable healing of a young American mother who prayed for the Victorian cardinal’s intercession when she became afflicted by a “life-threatening pregnancy”. Doctors who treated her have reported that they have no explanation for the sudden and complete recovery of the woman, a law graduate. The file on her case has now been passed to the Congregation for the Causes of Sainthood and if Vatican theologians and doctors conclude the healing is a divine sign of Newman’s sanctity the Pope will be invited to canonise him as the first English saint since 1970 and the first British saint since 1976.
Two healing miracles are normally required for a candidate to be declared a saint. Cardinal Newman was beatified in Cofton Park, Birmingham, by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010 after the Vatican approved the first miracle, which involved the inexplicable healing of Jack Sullivan, an American who nine years earlier recovered from a crippling spinal condition which had left him “bent double”.
An earlier alleged healing of a baby in Mexico at Newman’s intercession was dismissed by the Congregation and the Vatican is refusing to disclose details about the latest case at the present time. But if the new case passes scrutiny, it will cement the international reputation of Cardinal Newman as one of the most distinguished Englishmen of his generation.
The London-born cardinal was an esteemed 19th-century Anglican theologian who founded the Oxford Movement to try to return the Church of England to its Catholic roots before he converted to the Catholic faith. In spite of a life marked by controversy, he was renowned for his exemplary virtue and also for his reputation as a brilliant thinker and Pope Leo XIII rewarded him with a cardinal’s red hat.
John Henry Newman’s coat of arms with the motto “heart speaks to heart”
He died in Birmingham in 1890, aged 89, and more than 15,000 people lined the streets for his funeral procession to pay tribute to him.
Scholars believe he was years ahead of his time in his views of the Church and her teachings. He was also a deeply original theologian who articulated a “theology of conscience” which historians have recently discovered influenced Sophie Scholl, the German woman beheaded in 1943 after she was caught flooding Munich University with leaflets urging students to rise up against “Nazi terror”.
Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth said he was convinced that Cardinal Newman would not only be canonised one day but would also be declared a Doctor of the Church because of the wealth and depth of teaching he left behind. “He was a man whose life and whose heart was absolutely docile to the truth of God and the truth of Christ,” the bishop said. “He was absolutely under the Word of God and I think that is important to us in an age of relativism and liberalism. Here is somebody led by the truth even if it cost him in his own personal life.” The teachings of Newman continue to be esteemed throughout the world, Bishop Egan said, adding: “I wonder if we undervalue him in England or don’t fully grasp just how significant he is in terms of the universal Church.”
The development was also welcomed by Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury. “John Henry Newman is already recognised by both Catholics and Anglicans for his personal holiness as well as his great learning,” he said. “We cannot anticipate the final judgment on a miracle now attributed to Cardinal Newman’s prayers,” he continued. “However, we pray that soon England will have a new saint recognised, a saint whose life and witness was closely connected with such familiar places as London, Oxford and Birmingham.”
Vatican officials are also studying the Causes of Passionist Fr Ignatius Spencer, a relative of Princes William and Harry through their mother, Lady Diana; Mother Elizabeth Prout, the founder of the Passionist sisters who worked with the poor in Manchester; Frances Taylor, “the saint of Soho” and a colleague of Florence Nightingale, and Mother Riccarda Beauchamp Hambrough, a Bridgettine nun who helped to rescue Jews from the Nazis in the Second World War.
Like Cardinal Newman, all of these post-Reformation candidates for sainthood were converts to the Catholic faith.
Blessed John Henry Newman, Pray for us, as we pray for your Canonisation!
PRAYER FOR CANONISATION of Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
God our Father,
You granted to Your servant,
Blessed John Henry Newman,
wonderful gifts of nature and of grace,
that he should be a spiritual light
in the darkness of this world,
an eloquent herald of the Gospel
and a devoted servant of the one Church of Christ.
With confidence in his heavenly intercession,
we make the petition for his Canonisation.
For his insight into the mysteries of the kingdom,
his zealous defence of the teachings of the Church
and his priestly love for each of your children,
we pray that he may soon be numbered among the Saints.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen
Nihil Obstat: Fr Pat McKinney S.T.L.
Imprimatur: + Bernard Longley, Archbishop of Birmingham
One Minute Reflection – 9 October – The Memorial of Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
But without faith it is impossible to please him, for anyone who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him....Hebrews 11:6
REFLECTION – “Oh that we could take that simple view of things, as to feel that the one thing which lies before us is to please God! What gain is it to please the world, to please the great, even to please those whom we love, compared with this? What gain is it to be applauded, admired, courted, followed, compared with this one aim, of not being disobedient to a heavenly vision? What can this world offer comparable with that insight into spiritual things, that keen faith, that heavenly peace, that high sanctity, that everlasting righteousness, that hope of glory, which they have who in sincerity love and follow our Lord Jesus Christ?”…Blessed John Henry Newman
PRAYER – “Dear Jesus, help me to spread Your fragrance everywhere I go.
Flood my soul with Your spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly,
that my life may only be a radiance of Yours.
Shine through me and be so in me
that every soul I come in contact with
may feel Your presence in my soul.
Let them look up and see no longer me but only Jesus!”
Blessed John Henry Newman, pray for us!
Our Morning Offering – 9 October – The Memorial of Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
Be with Me Today, O Lord By Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
May all I do today begin with You, O Lord.
Plant dreams and hopes within my soul,
revive my tired spirit: be with me today.
May all I do today continue with Your help, O Lord.
Be at my side and walk with me:
Be my support today.
May all I do today reach far and wide, O Lord.
My thoughts, my work, my life:
make them blessings for Your kingdom;
let them go beyond today,O God.
Today is new unlike any other day,
for God makes each day different.
Today God’s everyday grace,
falls on my soul like abundant seed,
though I may hardly see it.
Today is one of those days
Jesus promised to be with me,
a companion on my journey,
And my life today, if I trust Him,
has consequences unseen.
My life has a purpose:
I have a mission…I am a link in a chain,
a bond of connection between persons.
God has not created me for naught…”
Therefore I will trust Him.
Whatever, wherever I am,
I can never be thrown away.
God does nothing in vain.
He knows what he is about.
Amen.
I Place myself in Your Presence (Prayer before Holy Mass or at Eucharistic Adoration) Bl John Henry Newman
I place myself
in the presence of Him
in whose Incarnate Presence
I am before
I place myself there.
I adore You, O my Saviour,
present here as God and Man,
in soul and body,
in true flesh and blood.
I acknowledge and confess,
that I kneel before
that Sacred Humanity,
which was conceived
in Mary’s womb
and lay on Mary’s bosom,
which grew up to man’s estate
and by the Sea of Galilee
called the Twelve,
wrought miracles
and spoke words of wisdom
and peace.
Which, in due season
hung on the Cross,
lay in the tomb,
rose from the dead
and now reigns in heaven.
I praise and bless and give myself
wholly to Him,
who is the true Bread of my soul
and my everlasting joy.
Amen
Quote/s of the Day – 22 August – The Queenship of Mary
“She has surpassed the riches of the virgins, the confessors, the martyrs, the apostles, the prophets, the patriarchs and the angels, for she herself is the first-fruit of the virgins, the mirror of confessors, the rose of martyrs, the ruler of apostles, the oracle of prophets, the daughter of patriarchs, the queen of angels.”
…St Bonaventure (1217-1274) Seraphic Doctor
“Mary has the authority over the angels and the blessed in heaven. As a reward for her great humility, God gave her the power and mission of assigning to saints the thrones made vacant by the apostate angels who fell away through pride. Such is the will of the almighty God who exalts the humble, that the powers of heaven, earth and hell, willingly or unwillingly, must obey the commands of the humble Virgin Mary. For God has made her queen of heaven and earth, leader of his armies, keeper of his treasure, dispenser of his graces, mediatrix on behalf of men, destroyer of his enemies and faithful associate in his great works and triumphs.”
…St Louis Marie de Montfort
“To serve the Queen of Heaven is already to reign there and to live under her commands, is more than to govern.”
…St John Marie Vianney
“Prayer is powerful beyond limits when we turn to the Immaculata who is queen even of God’s heart.”
…St Maximilian Kolbe
“No one has access to the Almighty as His mother has – none has merit such as hers. Her Son will deny her nothing that she asks and herein lies her power. While she defends the Church, neither height nor depth, neither men nor evil spirits, neither great monarchs, nor craft of man, nor popular violence, can avail to harm us – for human life is short but Mary reigns above, a Queen forever.”
Shine through me Lord! Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman
Dear Lord,
help me to spread Your fragrance wherever I go.
Flood my soul with Your spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess my whole being
so utterly that all my life may only be a radiance of Yours.
Shine through me
and be so in me, that every soul I come in contact with,
may feel Your presence in my soul.
Let them look up and see no longer me
but only You, O Lord!
Stay with me and then I will begin to shine as You do;
so to shine as to be a light to others.
The light, O Lord, will be all from You;
none of it will be mine.
It will be You shining on others through me.
Let me thus praise You in the way which You love best,
by shining on those around me.
Let me preach You without preaching,
not by words but by example,
by the catching force,
the sympathetic influence of what I do,
the evident fullness of the love my heart bears to You. Amen.
Our Morning Offering – 12 June – (June the Month of the Sacred Heart)
MOST SACRED, MOST LOVING HEART
By Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman
Most Sacred, most loving Heart of Jesus,
You are concealed in the Holy Eucharist,
And You beat for us still.
Now, as then, You say: “With desire I have desired.”
I worship You with all my best love and awe,
With fervent affection,
With my most subdued, most resolved will.
For a while You take up Your abode within me.
O make my heart beat with Your Heart!
Purify it of all that is earthly,
All that is proud and sensual,
All that is hard and cruel,
Of all perversity,
Of all disorder,
Of all deadness.
So fill it with You,
That neither the events of the day,
Nor the circumstances of the time,
May have the power to ruffle it;
But that in Your love and Your fear,
It may have peace. Amen
O make my heart beat with Your Heart!
By Bl Cardinal John Henry Newman
Most Sacred,
most loving Heart of Jesus,
You are concealed in the Holy Eucharist,
And You beat for us still.
Now, as then, You say:
“With desire I have desired.”
I worship You
with all my best love and awe,
With fervent affection,
With my most subdued,
most resolved will.
For a while, You take up Your abode within me.
O make my heart beat with Your Heart!
Purify it of all that is earthly,
All that is proud and sensual,
All that is hard and cruel,
Of all perversity,
Of all disorder,
Of all deadness.
So fill it with You,
That neither the events of the day,
Nor the circumstances of the time,
May have the power to ruffle it;
But that in Your love and Your fear,
It may have peace. Amen
ARISE MARY, MOTHER OF GOD! Blessed Cardinal JOHN HENRY NEWMAN (1801-1890)
It is the time for your Visitation.
Arise Mary, and go forth in your strength
into that north country,
which once was your own,
and take possession of a land
which knows you not.
Arise, Mother of God,
and with your thrilling voice,
speak to those who labour with child,
and are in pain,
till the babe of grace leaps within them!
Amen
LENTEN REFLECTION – Tuesday of the Fifth Week – 4 April 2017
Look at the cross of Christ – Blessed John Henry Newman
“Look around, and see what the world presents of high and low. Go to the court of princes. See the treasure and skill of all nations brought together to honour a child of man. Observe the prostration of the many before the few. Consider the form and ceremonial, the pomp, the state, the circumstance and the vainglory. Do you wish to know the worth of it all? Look at the cross of Christ.
Go to the political world. See nation jealous of nation, trade rivalling trade, armies and fleets matched against each other. Survey the various ranks of the community, its parties and their contests, the strivings of the ambitious, the intrigues of the crafty. What is the end of all this turmoil – the grave! What is the measure – the cross.
Go, again, to the world of intellect and science. Consider the wonderful discoveries which the human mind is making, the variety of arts to which its discoveries give rise, the all but miracles by which it shows its power. And next, the pride and confidence of reason and the absorbing devotion of thought to transitory objects, which is the consequence. Would you form a right judgment of all this? Look at the cross.
Again, look at misery, look at poverty and destitution, look at oppression and captivity. Go where food is scanty, and lodging unhealthy. Consider pain and suffering, diseases long or violent, all that is frightful and revolting. Would you know how to rate all these? Gaze upon the cross.
Thus in the cross, and Him who hung upon it, all things meet. All things subserve it, all things need it. It is their centre and their interpretation. For He was lifted up upon it, that He might draw all peoples and all things to himself.
………………..And so, too, as regards this world, with all its enjoyments, yet disappointments, let us not trust it. Let us not give our hearts to it. Let us not begin with it. Let us begin with faith. Let us begin with Christ. Let us begin with His cross and the humiliation to which it leads. Let us first be drawn to Him who is lifted up, that so He may, with Himself, freely give us all things. Let us “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,” and then all those things of this world “will be added to us.”
They alone are able truly to enjoy this world, who begin with the world unseen. They alone enjoy it, who have first abstained from it. They alone can truly feast, who have first fasted. They alone are able to use the world, who have learned not to abuse it. They alone inherit it, who take it as a shadow of the world to come and who for that world to come relinquish it.”
Devotion for the Month of April – The Blessed Sacrament
Every Catholic Church contains a tabernacle in which the Body of Christ is reserved between Masses and the faithful are encouraged to come and pray before the Blessed Sacrament. Frequent prayer before the Blessed Sacrament is a path to spiritual growth.
EUCHARISTIC ADORATION
The practice of Eucharistic adoration on earth not only brings us grace but prepares us for our life in Heaven. As Pope Pius XII wrote in Mediator Dei (1947):
“These exercises of piety have brought a wonderful increase in faith and supernatural life to the Church militant upon earth and they are re-echoed to a certain extent by the Church triumphant in heaven which sings continually a hymn of praise to God and to the Lamb “who was slain.”
This month, why not make a special effort to spend some time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament? It doesn’t need to be long or elaborate: You can start simply by making the Sign of the Cross and uttering a short profession of faith, such as “My Lord and my God!” as you pass a Catholic church. If you have the time to stop for five minutes, all the better.
“My Lord, I offer Thee myself in turn as a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Thou hast died for me and I in turn make myself over to Thee. I am not my own. Thou hast bought me; I will by my own act and deed complete the purchase. My wish is to be separated from everything of this world; to cleanse myself simply from sin; to put away from me even what is innocent, if used for its own sake, and not for Thine. I put away reputation and honour and influence and power, for my praise and strength shall be in Thee. Enable me to carry on what I profess. Amen.”
AN EXPLANATION OF AN OFFERING OF ONESELF TO CHRIST IN THE EUCHARIST
We should leave each visit to the Blessed Sacrament renewed in our commitment to live a Christian life. This Offering of Oneself to Christ in the Eucharist, written by John Henry Cardinal Newman, reminds us of the sacrifice that Christ made for us, in dying on the Cross and asks Christ in the Blessed Sacrament to help us to dedicate our lives to Him. It is the perfect prayer to end a visit to the Blessed Sacrament.
LENTEN REFLECTION – Friday of the First Week of Lent – 10 MARCH
Let us mortify our curiosity
Blessed John Henry Newman
For example, in respect to curiosity. What a deal of time is lost, to say nothing else, in this day by curiosity, about things which in no ways concern us. I am not speaking against interest in the news of the day altogether, for the course of the world must ever be interesting to a Christian from its bearing upon the fortunes of the church but I speak of vain curiosity, love of scandal, love of idle tales, curious prying into the private history of people, curiosity about trials and offences, and personal matters, nay often what is much worse than this, curiosity into sin. What strange diseased curiosity is sometimes felt about the history of murders and of the malefactors themselves! Worse still, it is shocking to say, but there is so much evil curiosity to know about deeds of darkness, of which the Apostle [Paul] says that it is shameful to speak. Many a person, who has no intention of doing the like, from an evil curiosity reads what he ought not to read. This is in one shape or other very much the sin of boys and they suffer for it. The knowledge of what is evil is the first step in their case to the commission of it. Hence this is the way in which we are called upon, with this Lent we now begin, to mortify ourselves. Let us mortify our curiosity.
LENTEN REFLECTION – Thursday of the First Week of Lent – 9 MARCH
Fertile excuses and evasions
Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman
Next I observe that a civilized age is more exposed to subtle sins than a rude age. Why? For this simple reason- because it is more fertile in excuses and evasions. It can defend error and hence can blind the eyes of those who have not very careful consciences. It can make error plausible, it can make vice look like virtue. It dignifies sin by fine names; it calls avarice proper care of one’s family, or industry, it calls pride independence, it calls ambition greatness of mind; resentment it calls proper spirit and sense of honour and so on.
…What all of us want more than anything else, what this age wants, is that its intellect and its will should be under a law. At present it is lawless, its will is its own law, its own reason is the standard of all truth. It does not bow to authority, it does not submit to the law of faith. It is wise in its own eyes and it relies on its own resources. And you, as living in the world, are in danger of being seduced by it and being a partner in its sin and so coming in at the end for its punishment.
REFLECTION – “Easy circumstances are generally thought a special happiness; it is thought a great point to get rid of annoyance or discomfort of mind and body; it is thought allowable and suitable to make use of all means available for making life pleasant.”
“Such advice is especially suitable to an age like this, when there is an effort on all hands to multiply comforts and to get rid of the daily inconveniences and distresses of life. Alas! my brethren, how do you know, if you avail yourselves of the luxuries of this world without restraint but that you are only postponing, and increasing by postponing, an inevitable chastisement? How do you know, but that, if you will not satisfy the debt of daily sin now, it will hereafter come upon you with interest? See whether this is not a thought which would spoil that enjoyment which even religious persons are apt to take in this world’s goods, if they would but admit it. It is said that we ought to enjoy this life as the gift of God. Easy circumstances are generally thought a special happiness; it is thought a great point to get rid of annoyance or discomfort of mind and body; it is thought allowable and suitable to make use of all means available for making life pleasant. We desire and confess we desire, to make time pass agreeably and to live in the sunshine. All things harsh and austere are carefully put aside. We shrink from the rude lap of earth and the embrace of the elements and we build ourselves houses in which the flesh may enjoy its lust and the eye its pride. We aim at having all things at our will. Cold and hunger and hard lodging and ill usage and humble offices and mean appearance, are all considered serious evils. And thus year follows year, tomorrow as today, till we think that this, our artificial life, is our natural state and must and ever will be.” (Blessed John Henry Newman)
Lenten Preparation Novena
DAY EIGHT
Loving Father,
may I live this Lent as an unceasing act of love for You.
Let me grow in understanding of the riches hidden in Christ.
In my prayer, grant me a spirit to see what must be done
and the strength to do what is right.
Make me radiant in Your presence
with the strength of my yearning for You.
By my fasting, fortify my resolve to carry out Your loving commands.
Bless me with an increase in devoutness of life so that I may be found steadfast in faith.
Any by my almsgiving, renew and purify my heart so that I may hold to the
things that eternally endure.
Help me to repent of my sins now and make reparation throughout
this Lenten season and each day thereafter.
Teach me and help me Lord, my God,
to relinquish the comforts of this world,
to leave my house and follow only the
Way of the Cross,
to sell al, give to the poor, and follow Your Son.
And thus, united with Him,
who makes His way to Calvary,
I offer You my intentions
(Mention your special intention)
Amen
REFLECTION – “LET US JUDGE OURSELVES, that we be not judged.
Let us afflict ourselves, that God may not afflict us.”
“And be sure of this: that if He has any love for you,
if He sees aught of good in your soul, He will afflict you,
if you will not afflict yourselves. He will not let you escape.
He has ten thousand ways of purging those whom He has chosen,
from the dross and alloy with which the fine gold is defaced.
He can bring diseases on you, or can visit you with misfortunes,
or take away your friends, or oppress your minds with darkness,
or refuse you strength to bear up against pain when it comes upon you.
He can inflict on you a lingering and painful death.
He can make “the bitterness of death pass” not.
We, indeed, cannot decide in the case of others,
when trouble is a punishment and when not;
yet this we know – that all sin brings affliction.
We have no means of judging others
but we may judge ourselves.
LET US JUDGE OURSELVES, that we be not judged.
Let us afflict ourselves, that God may not afflict us.
Let us come before Him with our best offerings,
that He may forgive us.” (Blessed John Henry Newman)
Lenten Preparation Novena
DAY SEVEN
Today Lord I choose life,
I choose Your love and the challenge to live it and share it,
I choose hope, even in moments of darkness,
I choose faith, accepting You as Lord and God,
I choose to let go of some part of my burdens, day by day handing them over to You,
I choose to take hold of Your strength and power ever more deeply in my life.
I choose to judge and afflict myself.
I choose repentance and reparation and suffering, for all my sins
and those of all the world.
Forgive me my Lord!
May this truly be for me a time of new life, of change, challenge and growth.
May I come to Easter with a heart open to dying with You
and rising to Your new life, day by day. Help me to repent of my sins now and make reparation throughout
this Lenten season and each day thereafter.
United with your Son,
who makes His way to Calvary,
I offer You my intentions
(Mention your special intention)
Amen.
REFLECTION – “Now is the accepted time, now the day of salvation.”
“These are thoughts, I need hardly say, especially suited to this season. From the earliest times down to this day, these weeks before Easter have been set apart every year, for the particular remembrance and confession of our sins. From the first age downward, not a year has passed but Christians have been exhorted to reflect how far they have let go their birthright, as a preparation for their claiming the blessing. At Christmas we are born again with Christ; at Easter we keep the Eucharistic Feast. In Lent, by penance, we join the two great sacraments together. Are you, my brethren, prepared to say,—is there any single Christian alive who will dare to profess,—that he has not in greater or less degree sinned against God’s free mercies as bestowed on him in Baptism without, or rather against his deserts? Who will say that he has so improved his birthright that the blessing is his fit reward, without either sin to confess, or wrath to deprecate? See, then, the Church offers you this season for the purpose. “Now is the accepted time, now the day of salvation.” Now it is that, God being your helper, you are to attempt to throw off from you the heavy burden of past transgression, to reconcile yourselves to Him who has once already imparted to you His atoning merits and you have profaned them.” (Blessed John Henry Newman)
Lenten Preparation Novena
DAY SIX
O gracious Father,
infuse in our hearts
the spotless light of Your Divine Wisdom
and open the eyes of our mind
that we may understand the teachings of Your Gospel.
Instill in us also the fear of Your blessed commandments,
so that having curbed all carnal desires,
we may lead a spiritual life,
both thinking and doing everything to please You.
Help us to see,
in our ordinary difficulties and duties,
in the trials and temptations of every day,
the best opportunity of making up for past infidelities.
United with Your Son, who makes His way to Calvary,
I offer You my intention
(Mention your intention)
For You, our God,
are the enlightenment of our souls and bodies;
and to You we render glory,
together with Your Suffering Son,
and with Your all holy,
life-creating Spirit,
now and ever, and forever. Amen
REFLECTION – “The one came for a son’s privileges, the other for a servant’s drudgery. “
“Would you see how a penitent should come to God? turn to the parable of the Prodigal Son. He, too, had squandered away his birthright, as Esau did. He, too, came for the blessing, like Esau. Yes; but how differently he came! he came with deep confession and self-abasement. He said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants:” but Esau said, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s venison, that thy soul may bless me.” The one came for a son’s privileges, the other for a servant’s drudgery. The one killed and dressed his venison with his own hand and enjoyed it not; for the other the fatted calf was prepared and the ring for his hand and shoes for his feet and the best robe and there was music and dancing.” (Blessed John Henry Newman)
Lenten Preparation Novena
DAY FIVE
Dear Lord,
we are fast approaching the holy season of Lent.
We begin to realise anew that these are the days of salvation,
these are the acceptable days.
We know that we are all sinners.
We know that in many things we have all offended Your infinite majesty.
We know that sin destroys Your life in us
as a drought withers the leaves and chokes the life from the land,
leaving an arid, dusty desert.
Help us now, Lord,
in our feeble attempts to make up for past sin.
Bless our efforts with the rich blessing of Your grace.
Make us realize ever more our need of penance and of mortification.
Help us to see,
in our ordinary difficulties and duties,
in the trials and temptations of every day,
the best opportunity of making up for past infidelities.
Every day we are so often reminded in field and wood,
in sky and stream,
of Your own boundless generosity to us.
Help us to realize that You are never outdone in generosity,
and that the least thing we do for You will be rewarded,
full measure, pressed down, shaken together and flowing over.
Then we shall see, in our own souls,
how the desert can blossom,
and the dry and wasted land can bring forth the rich,
useful fruit that was expected of it from the beginning.
United with Your Son, who makes His way to Calvary, I offer You my intention
AnaStpaul 
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