Tag: fr richard clarke

Posted in QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on JUDGING

Thought for the Day – 10 August – The Judgements of Charity – “Charity thinketh no evil”

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Thought for the Day – 10 August – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

CHARITY
Meditations for a Month

The Judgements of Charity
“Charity thinketh no evil”

We are all surrounded by those, of whose actions, we are continual witnesses and, of whose character, from these actions, we cannot help forming an opinion. We see what they do and listen to what they say and we, not only receive, a certain impression from them but also, are tempted to judge them and to pronounce on their moral value. Moreover, we are too prone, to judge them unfavourably, rather than favourably, to ascribe to them inferior motives and, see faults in them, where there are none or, to exaggerate whatever defects maybe found in them.
This unhappily, is my tendency. I cannot deny it!

Why is this?
It is because I am so full of faults myself that I see many faults in others.
It is the reflection of myself which I find so repulsive in them! I really attribute to them the very defects which, in some form or other, are to be found in me. It is because of my own want of charity that I judge them so harshly.
How this ought to humble me and how careful it ought to make me, in my judgement of others.

How do men judge who are imbued with the spirit of charity?
They think no evil. That is, they never attribute a bad motive to any action, if it is susceptible to having been actuated, by a good one. If the action is, in itself bad, they somehow do not seem to notice it. They are so occupied with their own shortcomings, they do not observe those of others and where the faults of others are forced into their cognisance, they search for some excuse or explanation.
Is this my temper? Do I thus think no evil?

Posted in "Follow Me", CHARITY - Fr Richard Clarke SJ, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, GOD ALONE!, QUOTES on ANGER, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on Love of Self, QUOTES on MEEKNESS, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, SELF-DISTRUST

Thought for the Day – 9 August – The Meekness of Charity“ – Charity is not provoked to anger”

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Thought for the Day – 9 August – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

CHARITY
Meditations for a Month

The Meekness of Charity
“Charity is not provoked to anger”

One of the strongest instincts of human nature is the instinct of self-defence. In some, it is almost irresistible. The desire to return blow for blow, within due bounds, is a reasonable and lawful impulse and is prompted by the duty we owe to ourselves.
Yet, there is no tendency more likely to lead to sin if it is indulged! There is no tendency more prone to set aside prudence, justice and, above all, charity.
Am I one of those natures, ready to take up arms in my own defence, at the slightest provocation?

The instinct of self-defence is always prone to mislead us, due to our excessive self-love. We imagine we have been attacked, when in fact, nothing of the sort is the case. We see a slight or insult, when none was intended. We do not keep in mind how simple the true explanation may really be. We become angry, long for revenge and are carried beyond all bounds, by our wounded self-love. We say and do what we bitterly regret afterwards, alienating others from us and offending God by our angry words.
How often, alas, I have done this!

How is this evil to be remedied?
By charity and nothing else.
If God were more prominent in our hearts, if we loved God more and ourselves less, if our ambition were to promote His honour and not our own, we should not indulge in these outbursts of intemperate or bitter words. Instead, we should not be easily provoked or become angry. We should take a gentle view of what has been done or we should accept the injury or unkindness done to us and offer it up for our sins in union with the supreme charity of Christ our Lord!

Posted in CHARITY - Fr Richard Clarke SJ, GOD ALONE!, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on HUMAN DIGNITY, QUOTES on Love of Self, QUOTES on PRIDE, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, QUOTES on VANITY, SELF-DISTRUST

Thought for the Day – 7 August – The Lowliness of Charity“ – Charity is not puffed up”

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Thought for the Day – 7 August – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

CHARITY
Meditations for a Month

The Lowliness of Charity
“Charity is not puffed up”

One of the great dangers of prosperity is that it so often produces a fatal exaltation of self. We are flattered by others and we begin to think that we are persons of importance.
Those around give way to us, listen to us when we speak, respect our opinion. From this, in our folly, we fancy ourselves distinguished and eminent and expect to be treated accordingly.
This temper, if it exists in us, shows that we are very deficient in true charity, for charity is never puffed up with a high estimate of self.

How does charity prevent this self-conceited pride and arrogance? Humility seems to be the proper virtue by which it is to be met. Humility is, indeed more obviously its opposite but charity, is equally a remedy for pride and arrogance. For charity is an emptying-out of self to give place to God alone.
True charity ignores self, despises self and is, therefore, quite incompatible with the temper which is nothing else than a magnifying of self and an ignoring of God. Which of the two tendencies is the stronger in my heart?

We are not likely to arrive at a true estimate of ourselves, unless others treat us as we deserve. How are we to know what our deserts may be? Our idea of our own deserts will be regulated by the degree of our charity. Those who esteem God the most and esteem themselves the least, consider themselves worthy only to be trampled underfoot and spat upon.
How should I appreciate such treatment? Would my charity enable me to rejoice in it, as suitable indeed for one like myself?

Posted in CHARITY - Fr Richard Clarke SJ, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on Love of Self, QUOTES on Will (Sensual or Inferior)

Thought for the Day – 6 August – The Reasonableness of Charity“ – Charity does not deal perversely”

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Thought for the Day – 6 August – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

CHARITY
Meditations for a Month

The Reasonableness of Charity
“Charity does not deal perversely”

Perversity generally results from an overwhelming self-love. We all dislike children who seem to take pleasure, in doing a thing, just because it is opposed to the wishes or orders of those set over them. Those who are perverse, may have clear motives set before them and may know that, a certain course of action is their duty and in their interest, yet, they set that course of action aside ,for some folly of their own. In their hearts, they perceive the folly more clearly and would see it to be folly, if they were not blinded by the deceptive mist of their own self-will.
Is perversity an element which enters into my actions, from time to time?

Opposed to perversity, is docility in those who obey and reasonable conduct, in those who have to act for themselves. How we love the docile! Even if we are not docile ourselves, others are dear to us, if they can be easily guided.
We also love reasonable men who take a common sense view of things and we renounce crotchety and misguided theories, invented by unreasonable people. Even in the natural order, such reasonable men win our regard and esteem. We esteem them even more, when they are influenced to it by the love of God.

Charity includes all possible reasonableness and docility. No-one can ever accuse charity of eccentric action, or of running counter to others, unnecessarily. On the contrary, its great aim is to yield to others and to carry out their will, as far as right reason will allow. Charity will relinquish what it thinks best, to please another, unless, serious harm seems likely to result therefrom. Such pliability and consideration for the opinion of others, is one of the marks of love of God, as opposed to the pertinacity and perversity resulting from self-will.
Am I perverse or run counter to others unnecessarily?

Posted in CHARITY - Fr Richard Clarke SJ, DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on DIVINE PROVIDENCE, QUOTES on ENVY, QUOTES on VICE, The WORD

Thought for the Day – 5 August – The Contentedness of Charity“ – Charity envieth not”

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Thought for the Day – 5 August – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

CHARITY
Meditations for a Month

The Contentedness of Charity
“Charity envieth not”

Envy is the vice which begrudges happiness, liberty, riches, success, or some other good. to another. Envy is pained at seeing another in possession of that which the envious man desires himself to have but cannot obtain. Envy is a mean and contemptible vice. What difference can it make to us that others should succeed and be happy? If they shared our misfortunes, we would be no better off.
Examine whether envy lurks in your heart?

Envy is a vice which utterly destroys the peace of he who harbours it. He is always uneasy and unites the longing for that which he cannot have, with a hatred of those who are enjoying it. This double worm gnaws unceasingly at his heart.
In our own interest, there is scarcely any vice which is such folly to harbour. Envy is also especially displeasing to God and hateful in His sight because, it challenges His goodness and rebels against, a state of things, which He has ordained or permitted.

How different is the spirit of charity!
It takes pleasure in the pleasure of others, it rejoices in their success and is happy in seeing them happy. It wishes for nothing which others have and which is out of its own reach, for it recognises the wise Providence of God in all happenings and, therefore, is perfectly satisfied with everything and has no wish to see itself exalted and others depressed, as envy does.
In view of the greater successes of others, is my spirit one of envy or one of charity?
Do I rejoice in them or do I feel vexed and annoyed?

Posted in CHARITY - Fr Richard Clarke SJ, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on PATIENCE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on VIRTUE, The FOUR CARDINAL VIRTUES: JUSTICE, PRUDENCE, TEMPERANCE, FORTITUDE

Thought for the Day – 3 August – The Patience of Charity – “Charity is patient”

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Thought for the Day – 3 August – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

CHARITY
Meditations for a Month

The Patience of Charity
“Charity is patient”

Patience consists in supporting (without murmuring or complaint), injuries hardships, ill-treatment, whether they are deserved or undeserved.
It is thus, a most difficult virtue and cannot be practiced in its perfection, except by those who have attained a high degree of charity.
We are naturally eager to defend ourselves, resentful when accused, angry when some wrong is done us and anxious to take revenge on our impugner. Yet, all this is forbidden by patience and is inconsistent with charity!
Can I stand this test?

Every form of patience is especially difficult for some people. Active, energetic, eager natures, cannot endure to be thwarted or contradicted. Even being kept waiting irritates them. For them, a careful practice of patience is necessary,, if they are to rise high in virtue. They must begin by suppressing the outward expressions. This will help them overcome the internal movement of impatience. They must school themselves carefully in little things with a persevering determination to conquer their natural inclination towards impatience, or they will offend continually against charity.

Patience, like all the virtues, brings its own reward. How much the impatient suffer when corrected!
The inward struggle and desire to be rid of the obstacle in their path, or the person who hinders and annoys them, is painful to them. How they chafe under the restraint which hampers their activity! On the contrary, how full of tranquil peace is one, who allows nothing to make him impatient and who, takes everything as coming from God.
Do I act that way?

Posted in ArchAngels and Angels, GOD ALONE!, HUMILITY-Fr Richard Clarke, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on HEAVEN, QUOTES on HUMILITY

Thought for the Day – 31 July – Humility in Heaven

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Thought for the Day – 31 July – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

HUMILITY
Meditations for a Month
Today is the Last Meditation

Humility in Heaven

Is there any place for humility among the Saints in Heaven? Or is it, like faith and hope, a virtue limited to this vale of tears? It might seem that in Heaven, there are no motives for humility – no sins, no imperfections, no defects of any kind, for which to humble ourselves. Yet, only in Heaven will our humility be perfected, for only in Heaven shall we have a thorough knowledge of God and a thorough knowledge of ourselves. This knowledge will make us recognise, even more than ever, our own nothingness and God’s Infinite Perfections. Our recognition of this, will make us forget ourselves, as we never can do on earth, therefore, God will be all in all to us.

Will this appreciation of our own nothingness be painful?
No, it will be a source of eternal joy!
For then we shall be able to rejoice in God. Our happiness will be unclouded by any interfering thought of self. Our admiration of His perfect Beauty will absorb all our faculties. Our absolute dependence upon Him, will be the truest independence. It will make us conformed to the Image of the Son of God, the chief glory, in Whose Sacred Humanity will be the result of its dependence on His Divine Nature.

Hence, in Heaven, the Angels and Saints are represented as casting down their crowns before the Throne of God, as falling on their faces and crying continually, “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord, God of hosts.”
If the highest dignity and greatest joy of the Saints, is to be prostrate before the Throne of God, we can never humble ourselves enough on earth, since those acts of humility will make our life like the life of Heaven and will fill us with a joy which will be a foretaste of the joy of the redeemed.

Posted in GOD ALONE!, HUMILITY-Fr Richard Clarke, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on MEEKNESS, QUOTES on PEACE, QUOTES on PERSEVERANCE, QUOTES on PRIDE, QUOTES on TEMPTATION, QUOTES on the DEVIL/EVIL, QUOTES on VIRTUE

Thought for the Day – 30 July – The Fruit of Humility

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Thought for the Day – 30 July – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

HUMILITY
Meditations for a Month

The Fruit of Humility

There is nothing which gives such a solid peace as humility. At the beginning it is difficult and we smart under the wounds which our pride has to suffer before it can be destroyed in ourselves.
But a holy perseverance in the practice of humility will spread over the soul such a sweet and calm tranquility that even in this life, the soul begins to taste the joys of the heavenly paradise. Troubles, disappointments, unkindness, injustice, insults, do not disturb the quiet happiness of one, who is really humble. One who is truly humble appreciates, continually, the truth of our Lord’s Words:
“Learn of Me, for I Am meek and humble of heart and you shall find rest for your souls. … For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Humility is also the best possible safeguard against the attacks of the devil. The humble man can say, as our Lord did: “The prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in Me.”
Or as Saint Martin said when dying: “Why art thou here, O evil one? No malice wilt thou find in me.”
Nor has the devil any chance of success in tempting the humble. Their continual disposition is one of dependence on God and, therefore, no temptation has power to lead them astray.

Humility is also the root, from whence all the other virtues spring.
A humble man is always charitable – for he never thinks of himself but always, of doing something for God.
For the same reason, he is full of zeal, he is prudent – for he always relies on God, never on himself; he is a man of prayer because he looks to God for everything; he is pure in heart because he never, in anything, desires to please himself but always to please God.
Are these points of humility to be found in me?

Posted in HUMILITY-Fr Richard Clarke, INGRATITUDE, ON the SAINTS, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on PRIDE, St PAUL!

Thought for the Day – 29 July – Models of Humility: The Saints

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Thought for the Day – 29 July – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

HUMILITY
Meditations for a Month

Models of Humility:
The Saints

Some Saints excelled in one virtue, some in another but all were pre-eminent in humility.
The heroes of the Church of God, whether under the Old or the New Dispensation, were marked off from the heroes of paganism by their humility. Thus, Abraham described himself as dust and ashes. Job, in the presence of God, expressed his abhorrence of himself. David, when visited by the Hand of God, thanks Him for having humbled him. Daniel declares that to him belongs shame and confusion of face.
If, even without the example of Jesus and Mary before them, these Saints were so humble, what ought you to be? !

The Saints of the New Testament are still more conspicuous for their humility. Saint Paul believed and declared himself to be the chief of sinners. Saint Bernard expressed his astonishment that God should work miracles by the hands of one so vile as he. Saint Dominic, before entering a City, used to pray that he might not bring down judgements upon it for his sins.
Saint Philip Neri used to invent ingenious methods of drawing down ridicule upon himself!
Saint Francis Borgia, when someone by accident, spat in his face, merely remarked that he could not have found a more suitable place to spit upon.
Compare the humility of these saints with your pride and humble yourself before God.

The Saints were not exaggerated in their sentiments. They said, with truth that, if God had given to the greatest of sinners the graces given to them, they might perhaps have been far holier than they.
Think of the graces given you. How often you have abused and rejected them!
If the Saints could lament over graces lost, how ought you to humble yourself for your ingratitude?

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DECEMBER - The DIVINE INFANCY and The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, HUMILITY-Fr Richard Clarke, IMMACULATE CONCEPTION Prayers and Novena, IMMACULATE HEART PRAYERS, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, QUOTES on HUMILITY

Thought for the Day – 28 July – Models of Humility: The Blessed Virgin

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Thought for the Day – 28 July – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

HUMILITY
Meditations for a Month

Models of Humility:
The Blessed Virgin

No-one of all the children of Adam ever approached the Blessed Virgin Mary in humility. What had she to make her humble? She had no sin or imperfection for which to humble herself before God. Yet the greatest of sinners never humbled himself as did Mary. How was this? It was because no-one, save she, ever recognised her own nothingness in God’s sight. This is the surest basis for humility.
We are so wanting in humility because we do not recognise our utter insignificance and the absence of any good in us, save that which, is the gift of God.

Thus, it was that, because Mary had a right to the highest place, she always sought the lowest.
This is the law, which everywhere prevails. Those who deserve the lowest place, seek the highest and those who deserve the highest, seek the lowest. The enemies of God do not like to lower themselves. But, His friends recognise the lowest place as the place most suitable for them
Am I, in this respect, one of God’s friends or one of His enemies?

Mary’s humility was also the result of her desire to be like to her Divine Son in all things.
When she saw Him stoop from the highest Heaven to earth, she longed to stoop to the very dust. She placed herself in spirit beneath the feet of all and, would have placed herself lower still, if it had been possible.
For what humiliation could even Mary endure which was in any way comparable to that of her Son?
If Mary, then, is my Queen and Mother, I will seek to imitate her in this. If the Immaculate Mother of God loved to humble herself, how much more should I, who am but a miserable worm of earth?

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, HUMILITY-Fr Richard Clarke, QUOTES for CHRIST, QUOTES on HUMILITY

Thought for the Day – 27 July – Models of Humility: Jesus Christ

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Thought for the Day – 27 July – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

HUMILITY
Meditations for a Month

Models of Humility:
Jesus Christ

When we compare the humility of Jesus Christ with that which is possible to ourselves, it seems as though the virtue in us, does not deserve the same name, for He, Who was Omnipotent God lowered Himself to become the lowliest of men. Such an act of humility was an Infinite abasement of Himself and had an Infinite value in the sight of God.
The Divine Word submitted to the obliteration of all His Glory and Majesty when He became man. This was humility indeed!
But what is our humility? Simply placing ourselves in a position which more nearly approaches that which we deserve to occupy!
When I humble myself, I simply divest myself of the false position of seeming to have any virtue, or dignity, or claim to honour, of my own.

Even when He had lowered Himself to the nature of man, He was not satisfied but He needed to seek out every kind of contempt and insult.
He was regarded as a madman, as possessed with a devil, as a wine-bibber, as an impostor, as a leader of sedition, as a fool, as a criminal and as a blasphemer. All this He took upon Himself, of His own accord and deemed an honour!
Is it not strange that I should shrink from sharing that whicvh the Son of God chose as the fitting treatment of His Human Nature?

He did more than this.
He so identified Himself with human sin that He is said, by the Apostle, to have been made sin for our sakes and, by this means, He was able to find a fresh motive for humbling Himself, as being laden with sin in the sight of His Heavenly Father.
If He, the Spotless Lamb, thus sought out motives of humiliation, how is it that I,, on the contrary, seem to avoid all which humbles me?

Posted in HUMILITY-Fr Richard Clarke, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on JUDGING, QUOTES on PRAYER, QUOTES on PRIDE

Thought for the Day – 26 July – Humility in Prayer

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Thought for the Day – 26 July – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

HUMILITY
Meditations for a Month

Humility in Prayer

We are all anxious that God should hear and grant our prayers. He is always ready to do so. The obstacles are always on our side and one of the chief of these is a want of humility.
If God resists the proud, He is not likely to hear their prayers; hence, one of the first prerequisites of ssuccess in my prayers, is that I should humble myself before God. Then and not until then, will my prayer reach the ears of the Most High.
“The prayer of him, who humbleth himself, pierces the clouds.”

One of the most dangerous forms of pride is a contempt for others and one which we maybe very prone to manifest, without realisng its ruinous effects upon our prayers.
When the self-complacent Pharisee thanked God that he was not like the poor publican, he probably was quite unconscious of the offensiveness of his prayer to God. Pride blinded him.
So it often blinds us and we little think that when in prayer, we secretly congratulate ourselves on being free from certain faults which we see in our neighbours and, all the while, we are displeasing God by thus harshly judging others! How would He hear our prayers unmder these conditions!

How are we to be humble in prayer?
We should be humble in prayer by dwelling upon our own miseries and the good points we see in those around us or which we should see, if our own pride did not make us blind to others’ superiority to us and, the fact that, the graces God has liberally bestowed upon us, make our ingratitude and our want of correspondence to them, all the more culpable!

Posted in CHARITY - Fr Richard Clarke SJ, GOD ALONE!, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on Love of Self, QUOTES on MERIT, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, The KINGDOM of GOD / HEAVEN

Thought for the Day – 25 July – The All-Importance of Charity

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Thought for the Day – 25 July – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

CHARITY
Meditations for a Month

The All-Importance of Charity

“If I have not charity, I am nothing.”
These are the words of Holy Scripture inspired by God Himself.
Unless we are united to God by the habit of supernatural charity, unless we love Him before all else, for His Own sake, with a supreme and unselfish love, we are not children of God but aliens.
Unless we do these things, we have no inheritance in the Kingdom of Heaven, we can earn no merit before God and, all that we do, has no beauty in His Sight. All our actions, however noble and generous, do not really please Him, or deserve grace in this life ,or glory in the next.

Moreover, unless there is at least an initial element of charity in our actions, they will not help us in any way on the road to Heaven.
Acts of faith and hope, although they maybe performed by one who has not perfect charity, contain an unformed and rudimentary element of charity.
They are the germ or bud from which charity may afterwards spring and, in this way, they lead to charity. In themselves, faith and hope gain no merit, unless they are the actions of one who already has charity in his heart.

Even if we have the habit of charity and are in a state of grace, our actions are not meritorious before God, unless they are done from a motive of charity.
Charity must in some way influence faith and hope, if not with a present thought of God, yet, with the golden light of our love for Him lighting them up. Without this, they may count for nothing, or at most, merit only a natural reward. If I give money purely out of natural compassion and pity, I gain a temporal but not, an eternal reward.
How careful I must be to offer to God each act of charity to men!

Posted in CHARITY - Fr Richard Clarke SJ, GOD ALONE!, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL

Thought for the Day – 24 July – Charity and Self-love

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Thought for the Day – 24 July – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

CHARITY
Meditations for a Month

Charity and Self-love

If charity really promotes our highest interests and, even in its most disinterested form, ministers to our good, how is it that it is so often compared with self-love?
When we speak of self-love, we do not mean the true love of self which is identical with charity. We mean the love of our lower self. We mean the choice of some immediate good instead of the far higher and nobler good which we shall secure by sacrifice of the lower good. Self-love is the love of the child for the unwholesome sweets which it knows will produce sickness on the morrow.
How often my self-love has led me to grasp at the passing enjoyment instead of the solid happiness, I should have gained, by renouncing it.

Self-love does a still more mischievous work.
It leads us to thrust ourselves into a position we know is a false one, in order to gratify our desire for independence and for liberty. Self-love hates subjection and is thus diametrically opposed to charity which loves to be subject.
Self-love hates the lowest place or humble work and yearns after notoriety or prominence.
Charity appreciates the nothingness of self and desires that God should be all in all!

Self-love, again, cannot endure any sort of reproof or correction. It rebels against those things and longs to revenge itself. It is thus, no true love of self, for he who really loves himself, or rather, who finds his highest happiness in preferring God to self, welcomes anything which tends to lower self and to make God the exclusive object of his love.
Thus, in hating self, he loves self with a true self-love and will reach charity.
Is this my relationship to self?

Posted in CHARITY - Fr Richard Clarke SJ, GOD ALONE!, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on THE VOICE OF GOD

Thought for the Day – 22 July – Charity, a Supreme Love

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Thought for the Day – 22 July – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

CHARITY
Meditations for a Month

Charity, a Supreme Love

Charity does not exist within the soul of anyone who does not love God above all things. If some created being has the first place in our heart and God only the second, then, we are the enemies, not the friends of God. He must have all our heart or none!
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with thy whole heart and thy whole soul.”
If, any person or thing, hinders this supreme love for God, we must avoid it at any cost. If this is impossible, we must pray earnestly that we may never fall into the terrible misfortune of loving the creature more than the Creator, Who is God, blessed forever.

This, however, does not mean that we must have a stronger feeling of love for God than for some loved object upon earth. We cannot always control our feelings. We are creatures of sense and our senses and imagination have great power over us.
Nor does it mean that the love of God is to swallow up the love of created things. This is impossible.
Nor, again, does it mean, there must be no possible circumstances which we can imagine, wherein we could not promise to choose God, however violent the temptation might be.
It simply means that, as I am now and under the present circumstances, I would give up anything rather than mortally offend God.

This supreme love of God includes a conviction that God is our best friend and, therefore, He will never ask of us what is beyond our power. He will provide an escape from every temptation, however violent.
Hence, I will have no fear about the future. God will never ask of me what He does not give me strength to perform!

Posted in CHARITY - Fr Richard Clarke SJ, GOD ALONE!, ON the SAINTS, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on FREEDOM, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, QUOTES on THE WORLD, QUOTES on WILL (Reasonable or Superior)

Thought for the Day – 21 July – Charity, a Love of Choice

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Thought for the Day – 21 July – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

CHARITY
Meditations for a Month

Charity, a Love of Choice

Although God chooses out of the world, those on whom He sets His love and for whom, He destines the rich gifts of grace and glory, yet He never forces their will. He draws them to Himself with the cords of love,but, it is in their power to resist. All men choose deliberately, at some period of their lives, between the love of God and the love of self.
Our homage to God must be a voluntary homage and our love, must be a voluntary love. We must choose God in spite of the difficulties and objections which are raised by our lower nature.
Have I made this choice? Moreover, do I make it in all the details of my life?

It seems logical that every sane man should choose Him, Who contains all perfections, in an Infinite degree. rather than any of the miserable trifles which do not satisfy and will soon pass away.
Yet, how few there are who make a full and complete choice of God!
The Prophet complains (Jeremiah 2:13), “They have forsaken Me, the Fountain of living water and have digged themselves cisterns, broken cisterns which can hold no water.”
Do I not, alas, everyday, choose some passing indulgence, although I know I should please God more and earn His love, if I denied it to myself?

Our Lord tells His Apostles, “You have not chosen Me but I have chosen you.” Therefore, God has chosen us, rather than us Him. He chose to give us grace and carried it through to the end, before we made the choice to prevent it. It was more His than ours. This is true of all vocations, great or small, when we have, through God’s mercy chosen Him, rather than yielded to natural inclination.
O my God, choose me ever and grant that I may ever choose Thee!

Posted in HUMILITY-Fr Richard Clarke, ON the SAINTS, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on PRIDE

Thought for the Day – 20 July – Consciousness of Humility

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Thought for the Day – 20 July – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

HUMILITY
Meditations for a Month

Consciousness of Humility

How are we to know whether we are humble?
If we think we are humble, we may be quite sure that we are not really humble at all! There is no
more certain sign of pride, than to be unaware of its existence in ourselves. Which Saint ever lived,
who did not acknowledge and lament his pride and self-love? A Saint who should believe himself to be thoroughly humble, would be no Saint at all.
How far do I recognise in myself an ever-running sore of pride, making me foul and unsightly before God, who hates the proud and gives grace only to the humble?!

If I find that I take disparaging remarks, attacks and contradictions from others, with patience and good humoor, it is a good sign but, not a certain sign that I am humble.
Pride, which apes humility, often renders man proof, against that which others think. He wraps himself in his cloak of pride and looks down on their opinion of him.
Indifference to the praise and honour of those
around us, is not a certain sign, for this too may come from pride and a spirit of contempt!

But if anyone:

+++ recognises himself as full of pride;
+++ dislikes the idea of being honoured and praised;
+++ desires humiliations and prays for them; or
+++ thinks himself to deserve the worst of everything and the lowest place,

he may hope that he has begun to walk the road which, in the end, may through God’s grace, produce in him the virtue of humility.
Examine yourself on these points, thank God for any signs of progress and lament over still -remaining defects.

Posted in GOD ALONE!, HUMILITY-Fr Richard Clarke, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on PRIDE, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, QUOTES on TRUST and complete CONFIDENCE in GOD, QUOTES on VANITY, SELF-DISTRUST

Thought for the Day – 18 July – Humility in Success

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Thought for the Day – 18 July – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

HUMILITY
Meditations for a Month

Humility in Success

When Saint Peter and his companions had, at this word of Jesus, cast their nets and enclosed the miraculous draught of fishes, Saint Peter’s first impulse was to throw himself at Jesus’ feet and humbly cry,
“Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”
Success, instead of puffing him up, made him recognise his own sinfulness and unworthiness of the favours which God had done him. This should be the effect of success on us — to humble ourselves and declare ourselves unworthy of such benefits as God has bestowed upon us.

Yet success is meant to encourage us. We cannot help being conscious of having done well and given satisfaction and it would be foolish and ungrateful to ignore the fact. But, our spirit must be that of Saint Bernard, who did not deny the marvels God had wrought through him. Instead, he expressed his astonishment that God could make use of such an instrument! So, we should regard it as fresh proof of God’s power and love, that He should work the marvels of His grace through us.

Thus, to humble ourselves amid the approval and applause of others, is no easy task. It is very possible to cry out, “Not unto us, O Lord but to Thy Name be the praise” and, all the time, to be puffed up with pride. The real test is whether we pray at such moments,

“Humble me, O Lord.
Teach me my own nothingness,
make me continually depend on Thee
and in my heart attribute to Thee all the glory
and to myself nothing.”
Such a prayer, if it comes from our heart, is a certain safeguard for our humility.

Posted in HUMILITY-Fr Richard Clarke, QUOTES on ANGER, QUOTES on ENEMIES, QUOTES on GRATITUDE, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on PRIDE, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, SELF-DISTRUST

Thought for the Day – 17 July – Humility under Correction

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Thought for the Day – 17 July – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

HUMILITY
Meditations for a Month

Humility under Correction

To be forced to recognise defects in ourselves, is always painful to human nature. We should like to think ourselves perfect, or at any rate, free from any very serious faults. In spite of all our efforts, the knowledge of our many imperfections and blemishes, thrusts itself upon us and the difference between the man of goodwill and the lover of self is, that one turns himself with all his energy to cure his defects and, the other, seeks to palliate them, excuse them and hide them, as best he can from himself and others.

One of the best means of exterminating our faults, is to be told of them by others. Here again, another signal difference is seen between the proud man and the humble. The one is grateful for the correction and turns at once to avail himself of it. The other, resents it and is more inclined to think how he can revenge himself on his reprover, than how he may remedy his own defect.
Judged by this test, am I among the proud or the humble? When reproved, is my first impulse vexation and anger, or sorrow and a wish to amend?

There is still another test.
The proud sometimes avail themselves of a reproof and correct their faults because of that reproof. Yet, they seek to conceal from their reprover, the fact that they are following his counsel. They will not acknowledge, that they are being guided by the reprover.
Those who are truly humble, rejoice in letting others see that they are adopting their advice in submitting themselves to reproof, with gratitude, as coming from God and as a favour bestowed on them.
Can I stand this test?

Posted in CHARITY - Fr Richard Clarke SJ, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on MERCY, QUOTES on SACRIFICE, QUOTES on SACRILEGE, QUOTES on SUFFERING, The PASSION

Thought for the Day – 16 July – Charity, a Love of Benevolence

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Thought for the Day – 16 July – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

CHARITY
Meditations for a Month

Charity, a Love of Benevolence

By love of complacency, we take personal pleasure in the good of our friend, by love of benevolence, we desire to see that good increased.
The benevolence of charity consists in an ever-present desire that the glory of God, may be promoted by all men who live upon the earth, that His Kingdom may spread, that the number of the Saints may receive continual additions and that sinners may be converted to Him.
This is the chief wish of our hearts and it is ever-present in our minds – that the interests of God will be advanced everywhere.

This love of benevolence includes too, a feeling of grief and sorrow, whenever we hear of anything which is an insult to God’s honour or which diminishes His eternal glory. All the sins of men cause pain, to those in whose hearts supernatural charity is present. All sacrileges, impieties, or forgetfulness of God which they witness, hurts them and causes them to suffer. Above all, they are compassionate to the Sacred Sufferings of Jesus and the Agony, of Body and Mind which our sins caused Him.

Charity, moreover, requires that we shall not be satisfied with a mere feeling of goodwill. Our benevolence must be a practical one. We must do our part to add to God’s glory. In proportion to our charity, will be our devotion of every act and word and thought, to the glory of God. When Saint Paul said, ‘Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God,’ he was but inculcating a precept of charity.
What do I do to promote God’s glory?
Alas, how much less than I ought!

Posted in ArchAngels and Angels, CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, CHARITY - Fr Richard Clarke SJ, GOD ALONE!, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, The KINGDOM of GOD / HEAVEN

Thought for the Day – 15 July – Charity, a Love of Complacency

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Thought for the Day – 15 July – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

CHARITY
Meditations for a Month

Charity, a Love of Complacency

Charity is also a love, distinguished by the complacency or pleasure which it takes in the welfare of whomever is its object. Let us apply this to the supernatural charity which has God for its object.

Charity takes pleasure in thinking of God’s Infinite perfections. It rejoices in His unapproachable Majesty. The continual joy of the Angels in Heaven and of the Church on earth is:

Gloria in Excelsis Deo.
Charity rejoices in His Infinite holiness; Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth; in His Power, His Wisdom and His Eternity.
Does my heart rejoice in the thought of God’s Power and Glory and in my complete subjection to Him?

Charity also thinks with complacency of the homage paid to God by Angels and by men.
It thinks of the honour He derives from the holiness of the Saints, from the Immaculate purity of His Holy Mother, from the obedience of the Son of God to His Eternal Father and, from the Sacrifice on Calvary, whereby the world was made once more, the Kingdom of God and filled with tens of thousands of saints.
For all this, do I render thanks to God and rejoice in the glory He derives therefrom.
I thank Thee, O my God, that Thou hast on earth, so many faithful servants who give glory to Thy Name.

Charity, moreover, rejoices exceedingly in the honour done to God, whenever a sinner is reconciled to Him. The Angels rejoice over the sinner doing penance, not so much for his own sake, as because God’s Kingdom is thereby enlarged and His glory increased.
So, too, we ought to rejoice in the conversion of every sinner and all the more because we are sinners. As sinners, we can appreciate better, the injury done to God by sin and the honour He receives when sin is blotted out and the sinner is reconciled to Him.
Do I rejoice in the conversion of sinners and recognise that conversion has increased God’s Kingdom and His glory?

Posted in "Follow Me", CHARITY - Fr Richard Clarke SJ, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, GOD ALONE!, LOVE of NEIGHBOUR, QUOTES for CHRIST, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, THEOLOGICAL

Thought for the Day – 13 July – The Definition of Charity ‘What is Charity?’

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Thought for the Day – 13 July – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)
Today we begin a new seriest with Fr Clarke having completed “Patience.” I believe we still have a week or so of “Humility” to complete.

CHARITY
Meditations for a Month

The Definition of Charity
What is Charity?

Charity is an infused virtue, by which we love God for His own sake and above all things and our neighbour as ourselves, for the love of God.
It is the best gift which God Himself can give, the gift compared to which, all other gifts are insignificant and worthless. It is the end and aim, the perfection and the crown of the Christian life. If we possess it, we have all things; if we possess it not, we have nothing; we are miserable and wretched and poor and blind and naked before God.
Pray that God may teach you to know and to love His Divine gift.

Charity is called an infused virtue, because we can only obtain it, if God shall please to pour it into our soul. No amount of practice can make it ours. No natural benevolence will develop into charity, unless God adds that supernatural character which alone can render it pleasing in His sight and meritorious of eternal life.
We must carefully distinguish natural from supernatural charity and we must beware of being satisfied with the former.

Charity is one of the virtues called “Christian virtues,” inasmuch, as their model and type, is the Life of Christ upon earth because, they unite us to Christ and make us like unto Him.
It is true that charity is, in itself, pre-eminently the Christian virtue and when Saint Paul says, “Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:14), he refers alone to the virtue of charity, with which we must be clothed, if we are to be the servants and followers of our Lord. Can I say I am clothed with charity, so all around me see it? Do they not too often detect in me, a lamentable want of this virtue?

Posted in GOD ALONE!, PATIENCE - Fr Richard CLARKE, QUOTES on DIVINE PROVIDENCE, QUOTES on HEAVEN, QUOTES on JOY, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on OBEDIENCE, QUOTES on PATIENCE, QUOTES on SUFFERING, The WILL of GOD

Thought for the Day – 12 July – The Third Fruit of Patience: – Joy

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Thought for the Day – 12 July – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

PATIENCE
Meditations for a Month
Today is the Last Meditation

The Third Fruit of Patience: – Joy

  1. ‘As it were, sorrowing yet always rejoicing.‘ (2 Cor 6 : 10) This is St Paul’s description of the ministers of Christ, labouring for the salvation of souls. What is true of them, is true of all faithful servants of God. On the surface ,apparent misery but down in the depths of the soul, intense joy. Of this joy, St Paul says: ‘I am filled with comfort and exceedingly abound with joy. in all our tribulation. (2 Cor 7 : 4)
    What is it that works this charm? Patience!. Patient endurance, humble submission to the Will of God, resignation to His Providence.
  2. How is it that out of sorrow, joy can come?
    The reason is that if we are living for God and in dependence upon Him and seeking to promote His glory, then, although in the natural order we may be crushed down with pain and suffering, we shall be full of joy by reason of the supernatural gladness which God bestows upon us. ‘Your joy,‘ says our Lord to His Apostles, ‘no man shall take from you.’ (St John 16 : 22)
    Have I any experience of this joy? If so, I shall thank God for it; if not, I must wait patiently and see whether there may not be some hindrance to it, on my part.
  3. Whence comes this joy?
    From Heaven. This is why it surpasses all earthly joy and makes earthly sufferings sweet. It is the first faint reflection of the Light of Heaven, amid the clouds and darkness of earth – the first foretaste of the joy into which the just will be welcomed by their Lord at the Gate of Heaven.
    If one drop of it sweetens all bitterness on earth and makes all sufferings light, what must be the intensity of joy which will inebriate all those who have here endured tribulation and suffering for Christ’s sake?
Posted in GOD ALONE!, PATIENCE - Fr Richard CLARKE, QUOTES on HAPPINESS, QUOTES on HOPE, QUOTES on PATIENCE, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on TRUST and complete CONFIDENCE in GOD

Thought for the Day – 11 July – The Second Fruit of Patience: – Hope

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Thought for the Day – 11 July – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

PATIENCE
Meditations for a Month

The Second Fruit of Patience: – Hope

  1. ‘Patience,’ says St Paul, ‘works out our trial and trial, hope.‘ (Romans 5 : 4) If we humbly accept the sufferings God sends us without rebellion or complaint, then, we reap the reward in rapid growth of hope within our heart. Through the darkness, we descry a bright light in the distance and, although our path be a dreary and a painful one, this prospect cheers us and makes us go on our way, rejoicing.
    In the earlier part of the time of trial, hope was dim and faint but, when we have been proved faithful servants, hope begins to anticipate the future and to fill us with a happiness which makes the present sufferings comparatively light.
    Have I attained that happy state?
  2. Joined to this prospect of the future, is a great confidence in God, in the present! Confidence is part of hope.
    When we have learned, by patience, to trust Him amid sorrow, tribulation, disappointment, then, we have a solid foundation for trusting Him, all the rest of our lives, not only with a sort of blind assurance that all He does is best but, with a consciousness of the happy results to come, from all that patience bids us bear, results, too which we begin to experience even here.
    I must then aim at this confidence and pray that I may gain it, by patience.
  3. St Paul tells us that if we hope for that which we see not, we have to wait for it, for the perfect ,work of patience, is to wait contentedly for the time, when God will give us the good things He has promised us.
    This was the Apostle’s frame of mind when he said: ‘I have fought a good fight, have kept the faith, at the last there is laid up for me, a crown of justice.’ (2 Timothy 4 : 7) So, too, for me, if I persevere to the end, there is laid up a like crown.
    The thought of it shall animate me to fresh patience.
Posted in PATIENCE - Fr Richard CLARKE, PURGATORY, QUOTES on PATIENCE, QUOTES on SUFFERING, The HOLY SOULS

Thought for the Day – 9 July – The Patience of the Holy Souls

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Thought for the Day – 9 July – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

PATIENCE
Meditations for a Month

The Patience of the Holy Souls

  1. In Purgatory the suffering is more intense than any suffering of this present life and there is greater need of patience to endure it. But the Holy Souls have their wills in perfect conformity to the Will of God and they cannot be anything but patient amid their torments. They do not and they cannot rebel but their submission does not remove the bitterness of their unceasing sorrow, as they think, how comparatively easy it would have been, for them to avoid, while still on earth, their present anguish, by greater faithfulness to grace and by uniting their actions and sufferings, to the actions and sufferings of the Divine Son of God.
  2. If we could look forward to those sufferings, with an appreciation of what they are, how patient we should be now! We should consider it a privilege to suffer now, as the very best way of avoiding the agony of that fire which will be kindled, by the wrath of God and will, in some way, correspond to our ingratitude and unfaithfulness to our King and Benefactor.
    If no other motive makes me patient, under my earthly sufferings, yet at least, the prospect of long years of far worse sufferings, ought to make me choose the lighter suffering now.
    What am I doing to shorten my Purgatory?

3 The Holy Souls must sometimes think, reproachfully, how little their friends on earth do to aid them in their present sufferings.
Among many other methods of aiding them, I can offer up for them all the pains of mind and body which God sends me, asking God to accept them in alleviation of the sufferings of the holy souls. This will help me to be patient and to suffer willingly and, when my time comes, I shall find that patient suffering for others, will shorten my time of banishment from God, in the fires of Purgatory.

Posted in "Follow Me", PATIENCE - Fr Richard CLARKE, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on MARTYRDOM, QUOTES on PATIENCE

Thought for the Day – 8 July – The Patience of the Martyrs

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Thought for the Day – 8 July – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

PATIENCE
Meditations for a Month

The Patience of the Martyrs

  1. To lay down one’s life for Christ is one of the greatest honours which can be bestowed upon us. it ensures an immediate entrance into Heaven.it gives us a part, such as nothing else can give, of the sufferings of Him, Who laid down His life for us.
    It is a crowning mark of God’s mercy to those who are His especial friends. It is not in the power of all who desire it; it is given to those for whom God has destined it and to none other. It has to be purchased by a long course of faithful service of God.
    If only God would give me such a privilege how happy I should be. If only I could live, so to deserve it!
  2. Even the weak, the timid, the sensitive, can, if God gives them the special grace of Martyrdom, face undismayed, the most cruel tortures. Sometimes they did not feel the pain, even when it was most agonising. The secret joy of their hearts, the thought that they were suffering for Christ – made it seem light to them and gave them fortitude to endure to the end.
    If God should, at a time, give me the happiness of dying for Him, He will take away all the fear and will give me a light, joyous heart even in the midst of the greatest physical sufferings!

3 If there is little or no prospect of my laying down my life for Christ, yet I can, at least, make the offering to Him – I can present myself to suffer anything which He has in store for me.
It may be that I am destined for suffering, worse than death, the prolonged Martyrdom of physical or mental anguish. But one thing I know, that He will never lay upon me suffering beyond that which I am able to bear, and will, with the suffering, give the grace necessary, to endure it with resignation and perhaps even with joy!

Posted in ON the SAINTS, OUR Cross, PATIENCE - Fr Richard CLARKE, QUOTES on HEAVEN, QUOTES on PATIENCE, QUOTES on SUFFERING

Thought for the Day –7 July – The Patience of the Saints

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Thought for the Day –7 July – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

PATIENCE
Meditations for a Month

The Patience of the Saints

  1. To the grace of patience, all the Saints, in great measure, owe their eternal reward. Their crown in Heaven will not be due, so much to what they have done for God, as to what they have suffered for Him. In them, ‘patience has its perfect work’ (St James 1 : 4) and that work has been to prepare them for the eternal joys of Heaven. Oh, how grateful they will be to God for the patience which He has given them to suffer willingly for Him! How grateful they will be for the sufferings which have procured for them, such happiness inexpressible and peace, which knows no end!
  2. The Saints, while still on earth, have a truer view of all the events of life than we have. They value, above all things, even while they are still suffering them, the crosses and afflictions which God sends them. The Apostles counted it joy to suffer shame for Christ’s sake. ‘We glory in tribulation,’ says St Paul.
    St Francis Xavier prayed for more suffering; St Teresa that she might go on suffering until her death. This was no mere sentiment, it was common sense and ordinary prudence. They found a real joy, even here in suffering.
    Have I any such joy? or do I dislike and try to avoid suffering? Here is a test of whether I am like the Saints?
  3. The patience of the Saints was more severely tried than is ours. Not only were they stoned, racked, torn asunder, not only did they suffer want, distress, afflictions (Hebrews 11 : 37) but, they had to endure what was still more difficult – ingratitude, failure, unkindness, false accusations, desolation, darkness. Yet they willingly endured all for Jesus’ sake, never ceasing to love Him through it all. I have my trials, yet none so dreadful as theirs, yet I complain even under my lighter cross!
Posted in CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, PATIENCE - Fr Richard CLARKE, QUOTES on PATIENCE, QUOTES on SUFFERING, The PASSION, The WILL of GOD

Thought for the Day – 6 July – The Patience of Jesus Christ

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Thought for the Day – 6 July – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

PATIENCE
Meditations for a Month

The Patience of Jesus Christ

As in all other virtues, so in patience, Jesus Chris is our Teacher and Example. None ever sufferer as He did and, therefore, none had to exercise such patience as He exercised.

  1. How patient He was with those who reviled and abused Him! Never one indignant word, never one angry look, nothing but sweetness and kindness. ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.‘ Oh, when shall I be able to imitate the patience of Jesus! when shall I approach, even at a distance, the Divine Model, Whom I profess to imitate!
  2. How patient He was with His Apostles! How their roughness, selfishness, stupidity, must have jarred upon Him! They misunderstood His word they quarrelled among themselves, His predictions respecting the Passion fell upon deaf ears, they all forsook Him in time of danger yet, He never was ruffled by the faintest breath of anger or impatience. He Who was the Infinite God put up with their inconstancy, selfishness, ambition.
    Once more, how far am I from the gentleness and patience of the Son of God!
  3. In the midst of physical agony such as none other ever tasted, how patient He was! Nothing save a gentle moaning expressive of the agony He was enduring, escaped His lips when the scourges lacerated His Sacred Body and when the nails were driven through His hands and feet. He endured that which even He could not have borne had He not been God and used His Divinity to enable Him to suffer more. Yet, He was always submissive to the Will of God, always taking a sort of strange joy in His acutest agony because, He knew, the rich reward at hand, the long-lived seed, who through Him, would be redeemed from the wrath of God and endless misery.
Posted in HUMILITY-Fr Richard Clarke, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on KINDNESS, QUOTES on PRIDE, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, QUOTES on TEMPTATION, QUOTES on THE WORLD, QUOTES on VANITY, SELF-DISTRUST

Thought for the Day – 5 July – Certain Temptations Against Humility

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Thought for the Day – 5 July – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

HUMILITY
Meditations for a Month

Certain Temptations Against Humility

It is not easy to be humble when we are praised and flattered. Our self-love swallows, with eagerness, the words of compliment. We think they must be partly true, or at least, we are tempted to exult in the high opinion which others profess of us. Such occasions are very perilous to humility.
We should do well to think of Herod when the people listened to his oration and shouted out, “It is the voice of a god and not of a man.” We read that, because he took the glory to himself instead of giving it to God, he was smitten down by the Angel of the Lord and died miserably (Acts 12).

Yet we cannot help being pleased when others speak kindly of us and we ought to be pleased when our superiors commend us but, we must observe certain precautions.

  • We must take care to rejoice rather in the kindness of others than in their praise.
  • We must strive to forget ourselves, raise our hearts to God and offer Him our success.
  • We must make an act of humility at the thought that, if those who praise us saw us as God sees us, they would despise, not honour us.

If we find we are puffed up by praise, this is fresh proof of our imperfection. The Saints disliked and dreaded praise and, when they were blamed unjustly, thanked God and took it as a mark of His love and favour. Father Lancicius used to consider unjust reproaches as pure gains because they had no drawback of self-reproach or regret.
Which do I accept most gladly, undue praise or undeserved blame?

Posted in HUMILITY-Fr Richard Clarke, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on PRIDE, QUOTES on SCANDAL, QUOTES on THE WORLD

Thought for the Day – 3 July –Humiliation!

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Thought for the Day – 3 July – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

HUMILITY
Meditations for a Month

Humiliation!

Humiliation is a very painful thing and our pride shrinks from it. Yet, it is a necessary step to humility. We must be humbled in order that we may be humble. We must learn, not to shun dishonour, if we are to learn not to crave honour from men.
When some slight is shown us, when we are ignored or distrusted, or judged unfairly, we have an excellent opportunity of advancing in humility, by accepting, with patience and resignation, the contempt and dishonour and, not attempting to defend ourselves or assert our rights and our claim to be treated with consideration and respect.

When we commit some fault which causes others to think less of us, we should be full of sorrow at the thought of having offended God and given bad example to our neighbour but we must not seek to shun the just contempt we have deserved, or allow ourselves to be miserable at the thought of being despised. On the contrary, we must be content to be esteemed according to our merits and must thank God for teaching us this lesson and giving us a greater insight into ourselves.

It is a sure sign of pride, if we seek to shirk the consequences of our fault, as Saul did when he begged Samuel still to honour him before the ancients of Israel (1 Kings 15:30). Such conduct only brings fresh humiliations.
God, who resists the proud, always brings down those who refuse to humble themselves. The devils, who would not willingly bow the knee before Christ made Man, were forced to do so. God, sooner or later, will force all the proud, willingly or unwillingly, to bow before Him.