Quote/s of the Day – 7 April – Monday in Passion Week
“By the Cross, death was slain and Adam was restored to life. The Cross is the glory of all the Apostles, the Crown of the Martyrs, the Sanctification of the Saints. By the Cross, we put on Christ and cast aside our former self. By the Cross we, the sheep of Christ, have been gathered into one flock, destined for the Sheepfold of Heaven.”
St Theodore the Studite (759-826) Abbot, Confessor, Father of the Church
“He who findeth his life, shall lose it and he, who shall lose his life for Me, shall find it. ” Matthew 10:39
“My dear child, accept this cross from God and bear it – it will turn into a truly lovable cross, if you would hand these trials over to God, accept them from Him with true abandonment and thank God for them: “My soul magnifies the Lord” in everything (cf Lk 1:46). Whether God takes or gives, the Son of Man must be raised up on the Cross … Dear child, leave all that behind; rather, give your attention to true abandonment … and think about accepting to bear the cross of temptation, rather than going in search of spiritual sweetness … Our Lord has said: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him take up his cross and follow Me” (Lk 9:23).”
Fr JohannesTauler OP (c1300-1361) Dominican Priest and Friar, renowned Preacher and Theologian
Quote/s of the Day – 16 December – 2 Corinthians 1:3-7; Matthew 16:24-27 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“For he who will save his life, will lose it and he who will lose his life for My sake, will find it. ”
Matthew 16:25
“He who findeth his life, shall lose it and he, who shall lose his life for Me, shall find it. ” Matthew 10:39
“My dear child, accept this cross from God and bear it – it will turn into a truly lovable cross, if you would hand these trials over to God, accept them from Him with true abandonment and thank God for them: “My soul magnifies the Lord” in everything (cf Lk 1:46). Whether God takes or gives, the Son of Man must be raised up on the Cross … Dear child, leave all that behind; rather, give your attention to true abandonment … and think about accepting to bear the cross of temptation, rather than going in search of spiritual sweetness … Our Lord has said: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him take up his cross and follow Me” (Lk 9:23).”
Fr JohannesTauler OP (c1300-1361) Dominican Priest and Friar, renowned Preacher and Theologian
“Since happiness is nothing else than the enjoyment of the Supreme Good and the Supreme Good is above us, no-one can enjoy happiness, unless he rises above himself.”
St Bonaventure (1221-1274) Seraphic Doctor of the Church
“My soul, live henceforward amid the scourges and the thorns of thy Saviour and there, as a nightingale in its bush, sing sweetly: Live Jesus, Who didst die that my soul might live! Ah, Eternal Father! What can the world return Thee for the gift Thou hast made it of Thy only Son? Alas! to redeem a thing so vile as I, the Saviour delivered Himself to death and, unhappy me! I hesitate to surrender my nothingness to Him, Who has given me everything!”
One Minute Reflection – 9 September – “The Month of The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary and The Holy Cross” – St Peter Claver SJ (1581-1654) Confessor, Priest of the Society of Jesus, Missionary –Wisdom 10:10-14; Matthew 10:34-42 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“He who findeth his life, shall lose it and he, who shall lose his life for Me, shall find it. ” – Matthew 10:39
REFLECTION – “Let us consider these words of our Lord: that, He wishes “to draw all things to Himself” (Jn 12:32). Someone who wishes to draw all things, first of all, gathers them together and afterward, draws them. This is what our Lord does – first of all, He calls us back from straying and wandering outside, making us collect our senses, faculties, words, deeds and, within, our thoughts, intentions, imagination, desires, inclinations, mind, will and love. Then, when everything is rightfully returned to good order, God draws us to Himself. For we must first of all be separated from every exterior or interior possession, to which we are attached, putting all our satisfaction in them. This kind of detachment is a painful cross and, all the more painful as the attachment becomes firmer and stronger …
Why does God rarely allow one day and night, to resemble the previous day and night? Why is it that what assisted your devotion today, is of no help at all tomorrow? Why do you have a host of images and thoughts which come to nothing? My dear child, accept this cross from God and bear it – it will turn into a truly lovable cross, if you would hand these trials over to God, accept them from Him with true abandonment and thank God for them: “My soul magnifies the Lord” in everything (cf Lk 1:46). Whether God takes or gives, the Son of Man must be raised up on the Cross … Dear child, leave all that behind; rather, give your attention to true abandonment … and think about accepting to bear the cross of temptation, rather than going in search of spiritual sweetness … Our Lord has said: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him take up his cross and follow Me” (Lk 9:23).” – Fr JohannesTauler OP (c1300-1361) Dominican Priest and Friar, renowned Preacher and Theologian , leaving us more than 80 sermons.(Sermon 59, 4th for the Exaltation of the Cross).
PRAYER – God of mercy and love, Thou offer all peoples the dignity of sharing in Thy Light and Life. By the example and prayers of St Peter Claver, strengthen us to love each other as brothers. 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
One Minute Reflection – 17 January – “The Month of the Most Holy Name of Jesus and of the Holy Family” – St Anthony Abbot (251-356) – Ecclesiasticus 45:1-6; Luke 12:35-40 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” – Luke 12:40
REFLECTION – “These words mean – you are to be awake and vigilant because you do not know the hour when the Lord will come from the wedding … Because, as soon as some feeling of pride, self-satisfaction or self-will enters a man, the Enemy is there, cutting the precious bag, of all his good works from him. Oh, children! How many people like these, will you see, who have done great works … and thus gained great renown … but, presumption has stripped them of all … They will be placed after the poor and simple fellows, whom no-one values because of their outward appearance and work. Because they humbly take a lowly place, these latter, will be set above the others … So keep watch with vigilant soul and you will see the pure Truth with open eyes …
“Let your loins be girt about and your lamps alight.” Here there are three points to notice. First – the loins are to be girded like someone firmly bound with a rope, so as to be led, against his will … Second – you are to carry lighted lamps in your hands which is to say, works of love. Your hands should never stop doing the true, ardent work of charity … Third – you should wait for the Lord when He returns from the wedding … “The Lord will set them over all His goods; He will gird Himself and will serve them.” This wedding from which the Lord comes, takes place in the most interior part of the soul, in its depths, where the noble image is found. O what intimate contact the soul has with God and God with it, in this depth and what a marvellous work God does there! What rejoicing and joy He finds there! It surpasses all feeling and thought and yet, man knows nothing and feels nothing of it.” – Fr Johannes Tauler OP (c1300-1361) Dominican Priest and Friar, renowned Preacher and Theologian (Sermon 77 for the Feast of a Confessor).
PRAYER – May the intercession of the Blessed Abbot Anthony, commend us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, so that what we do not deserve by any merits of our own, we may obtain by his patronage. Through tJesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).
One Minute Reflection – 8 October – “The Month of the Most Holy Rosary and of the Angels” – St Bridget of Sweden (c 1303-1373) Widow – Ephesians 4:23-28, Matthew 22:1-14 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“Everything is ready; come to the marriage feast.” – Matthew 22:5
REFLECTION – “Everything is ready. Come to the marriage feast.” But the people invited asked to be excused. They went “one to his farm, another to his business”… This astonishing busy-ness and constant agitation which stir the world, are seen, alas, only too often. The prodigious amount of clothing, food, buildings which we have and the many things, half of which would be ample enough, make one dizzy. This life should be nothing other, than a passage to eternity. With all our strength, we have to pull ourselves away from this exuberant activity and diversity, from all that is not absolutely necessary and, we must become recollected in ourselves, become attached to our vocation, consider where, how and in what manner, the Lord has called us – one to interior contemplation, the other to activity and a third… to interior quiet, in the calm silence of divine darkness, in unity of spirit.
Even these latter, are sometimes called by God to exterior, sometimes to interior actions, according to His good pleasure, yet,, the man pays no attention to his call. But if the person, who is called, interiorly to noble and calm silence, in the emptiness of the dark cloud, (Ex 24:18) was always wanting to forgo all charitable work because of it, then it would not be good. And unfortunately, the numbers of those today, who wish to carry out extra works of charity, are very rare . … The Gospel tells us too that the Master found one of His guests seated at the banquet who was not wearing the wedding garment. The wedding garment, which, this guest was lacking, is pure, true and divine charity, the true intention of seeking God which excludes all love of self and of all which is foreign to God – it wants only that which God wants. … To those who seek themselves, our Lord says: “My friend, how did you come in here without the garment of true charity?” They sought the gifts of God, rather than God Himself!” – Father Johnnes Tauler OP (c1300-1361) Dominican Friar, renowned Preacher and Theologian (Sermon 74 in honour of St Cordula (Died c450) Virgin Martyr, Companion of St Ursula).
PRAYER – O Lord, our God, Who through Thy Only-begotten Son revealed secrets to blessed Bridget, grant that through her kind intercession, we, Thy servants, may rejoice and be glad in the revelation of Thy eternal glory. 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).
One Minute Reflection – 30 May – “Pentecost Tuesday – Acts 8:14-17, John 10:1-10 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“I am the Door. By Me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved and he shall go in and go out and shall find pastures.” – John 10:9
REFLECTION – “I am the Door of the sheep” our Lord says He is the Door of the sheepfold. Now what is this sheepfold, the pen into which Christ is the Door? It is the Father’s Heart, into which and of which, Christ, Who has unsealed and opened for us, the Heart hitherto closed to humankind, is indeed our most lovable Door. All the Saints are gathered inside this fold. The Shepherd is the eternal Word; the Door, the humanity of Christ – by the sheep in this house, we understand human souls. But Angels, too, belong to the sheepfold… the Holy Ghost is the Doorkeeper… because all Truth, understood and expressed, comes from Him…
O with what love and goodness He opens the Door of the Father’s Heart to us and grants us access, unceasingly, to the hidden treasure, the inmost dwelling places and all the wealth, of this house! No-one could imagine or comprehend, how welcoming God is, always ready to receive, yes, longing and thirsting to do so and how He precedes us at every moment and each hour… O my children, how obstinately deaf we remain, to this loving invitation… so often we refuse Him our acceptance of this invitation! How many of the Holy Ghost’s summons and appeals are repulsed; we refuse them on the grounds of all kinds of things here below. So often we want something else and not the place God where wants us!” – Fr Johnnes Tauler OP (c1300-1361) Dominican Friar, renowned Preacher and Theologian , leaving us more than 80 sermons. (Sermon 27, 3rd for Pentecost).
PRAYER – Let the power of the Holy Ghost be present within us, O Lord, graciously to cleanse our hearts and to guard us from all harm. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the same Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).
One Minute Reflection – 28 September – St Wenceslaus (907-935) Duke of Bohemia, Martyr. – Wisdom 10:10-14, Matthew 10:34-42
“Whoever finds his life, will lose it and whoever loses his life for My sake ,will find it” – Matthew 10:39
REFLECTION – “Let us consider these words of our Lord – that He wants “to draw all things to himself” (Jn 12:32). Someone who wants to draw all things, first of all, gathers them together and afterwards, draws them. This is what our Lord does – first of all He calls us back from straying and wandering outside, making us collect our senses, faculties, words, deeds and, within, our thoughts, intention, imagination, desires, inclinations, mind, will and love. Then, when everything is rightfully returned to good order, God draws us to Himself.
For we must first of all, be separated from every exterior or interior possession to which we are attached, putting all our satisfaction in them. This kind of detachment is a painful cross and all the more painful as the attachment is more firm and strong…
Why does God rarely allow one day and night to resemble the previous day and night? Why is it that what helped your devotion today, is of no help at all tomorrow? Why do you have a host of images and thoughts that come to nothing? My dear child, accept this cross from God and bear it: it will turn into a truly lovable cross if you would hand these trials over to God, accept them from Him with true abandonment and thank God for them: “My soul magnifies the Lord” in everything (Cf Lk 1:46). Whether God takes or gives, the Son of Man must be raised up on the Cross…
Dear child, leave all that behind; rather, give your attention to true abandonment…and think about accepting to bear the cross of temptation, rather than going in search of spiritual sweetness… Our Lord has said: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him take up his cross and follow me” (Lk 9:23).” – Father Johannes Tauler OP (c 1300-1361) Dominican Priest and renowned Preacher, Theologian, Mystic (Sermon 59, 4th for the Exaltation of the Cross)
PRAYER – O God, Who through the Palm of Martyrdom transported blessed Wenceslaus from an earthly dominion unto heavenly glory, keep us, by his prayers, from all harm and grant us to rejoice in his fellowship. 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).
AnaStpaul 
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