Posted in CHRIST the PHYSICIAN, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on GRATITUDE, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on THANKSGIVING, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, The PASSION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 10 November – ‘He is satisfied with being loved.’

One Minute Reflection – 10 November – Readings: Wisdom 6: 1-11; Psalm 82: 3-4, 6-7; Luke 17: 11-19

Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?” – Luke 17:17

REFLECTION – “After having offended our Benefactor by our indifference to His signs of goodwill, we have, nevertheless, not been forsaken by the Lord’s goodness nor cut off from His love but we have been rescued from death and restored to life by our Lord Jesus Christ. And the way in which we have been saved, is even more worthy of wonder. “Though he was in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God something to be grasped but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave” (Phil 2,6-7).

He carried our weakness and bore our sufferings, He was put to death for our sake that we might be saved by His Wounds, He redeemed us from the curse, by becoming accursed for us (cf Is 53,4-5; Gal 3,13). He endured the most degrading of deaths, to lead us to life and glory. And it was not enough for Him to restore to life, those who lay in death. He clothed them again in the divine dignity and prepared for them, in everlasting rest, a happiness that exceeds all human imagining.

How, then, shall we repay the Lord for all He has given us? His goodness is such, that He asks nothing in return for His blessings – He is satisfied with being loved.” – St Basil (330-379) Monk, Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, Father and Doctor of the Church (Great monastic Rules, # 2)

PRAYER – You Lord, Holy Father, never forget Your solemn covenant and grant us new life each day. We though in our hearts of stone do forget and cease to thank and bless You. Make our hearts turn in gratitude, for all we are and have is by Your grace and we are as nothing without You. May our minds, hearts and souls sing with love and thanks to You, Lord our God. Grant us new hearts by the prayers of Your Saint Leo the Great and all the saints in heaven, who always lived with grateful hearts, praising You always. We ask this this through Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.

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Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on GRATITUDE, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 14 November – Today’s Gospel: Luke 17:11–19

One Minute Reflection – 14 November – Today’s Gospel: Luke 17:11–19 -Wednesday of the Thirty Second week in Ordinary Time, Year B and the Memorial of St Laurence O’Toole (1128 – 1180)

“Were not ten cleansed?  Where are the nine?”…Luke 17:17

REFLECTION – “In our own day we see many people at prayer but, unfortunately, we see none of them turning back to give thanks to God… “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine?” As I think you will remember, it was in these words that our Saviour complained about the lack of gratitude of the other nine lepers.   We read that they knew well how to make “supplications, prayers, petitions” since they lifted up their voices, crying out:  “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!”   But they lacked the fourth thing required by the apostle Paul: “thanksgiving” (1Tm 2:1) for they did not turn back nor give thanks to God.
We see still more in our own day people who implore God for what they lack but a mere handful who seem to be grateful for the blessings they have received.   There is no harm in imploring Him but what causes God not to grant our prayers, is His finding us lacking in gratitude.   After all, perhaps it is even an act of mercy on His part to hold back from the ungrateful what they are asking for, so that they may not be judged all the more rigorously, on account of their ingratitude… For it is sometimes out of mercy that God holds back His mercy…
So you see that not all those who are healed of the leprosy of this world, I mean their manifest complaints, profit by their healing.   Indeed, many are secretly afflicted with an ulcer worse than leprosy, all the more dangerous in that it is more interior.   That is why it was right that the Saviour of the world should ask where the other nine lepers were, since sinners avoid healing.   So, too, after his sin, God questioned the first man:   “Where are you?” (Gn 3:9).”… St Bernard (1091-1153) Doctor of the Churchwere not ten cleansed. where are the nine - luke 17 17 - we see still more in our own day - st bernard - 14 nov 2018

PRAYER – You Lord, Holy Father, never forget Your solemn covenant and grant us new life each day. We though in our hearts of stone do forget and cease to thank and bless You. Make our hearts turn in gratitude, for all we are and have is by Your grace and we are as nothing without You. May our minds, hearts and souls sing with love and thanks to You, Lord our God. Grant us new hearts by the prayers of Your Saint Laurence O’Toole and all the saints in heaven, who always lived with grateful hearts, praising You always. We ask this this through Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.st laurence o'toole pray for us - 14 nov 2018